Editor’s Note: Americans No Longer Trust Mainstream Media
Most would agree that Americans have lost faith in the mainstream media, and the latest Gallup polling data confirms this reality: 
trust in the mass media has reached another historic low, with only 31% of Americans expressing confidence in news organizations to report “fully, accurately and fairly.” This represents a dramatic decline from the 68-72% trust levels recorded in the 1970s, when Americans trusted Walter Cronkite as “the most trusted man in America.” I’ve personally witnessed and experienced the biases and fake news.
For the third consecutive year, more Americans have “no trust at all” in the media (36%) than those who trust it. The partisan divide is evident: 54% of Democrats maintain confidence in news media, compared to 27% of independents and just 12% of Republicans. Even more concerning is the generational gap within the Democratic Party—only 31% of Democrats aged 18-29 trust the media, compared to 74% of those 65 and older.
The September 3-15 Gallup poll shows this skepticism extends across American institutions. Media ranks lowest among 10 civic and political institutions, tied with Congress at the bottom. In contrast, Americans maintain greater faith in governance closer to home: 67% trust local government with local problems, 55% trust state government, and 54% trust the American people to make democratic judgments.
When most Americans don’t trust the news, it becomes harder for people to agree on basic facts, which makes our political divisions even worse.
Food for thought: decades ago, 50 different companies owned most of America’s news and entertainment. Today, just six huge corporations control almost everything you watch, read, and listen to—about 90% of it.
Most don’t know that just six companies own the TV networks, newspapers, radio stations, and websites that millions of Americans rely on for information. When you flip through channels or scroll through news sites, you’re mostly seeing content from the same small group of owners.
This raises an important question: when so few people control so much of what we see and hear, whose interests are really being served? It’s worth asking whether we’re getting the full picture or just the version these companies want us to see.
These numbers make sense when you see what’s really happening out there. I’ve seen it myself – the local newspaper, The Daily News Journal, ran a hit piece on me right on the front page the day of a primary election. What was funny is that it actually backfired and helped me win by nearly 80%. Polling had me at 58% before the incident.
On another occasion my former TV news professor told me in class, “I’ve never seen anything like what the media is doing to you—it’s completely unethical!” What makes it even more ‘ironic’ is that his wife teaches ethics in journalism, and I took her class along with others when I completed my second bachelor’s degree in media degree at MTSU. I also had the opportunity to complete legendary anchorman and journalist Chris Clark who worked for WTVF and hired Oprah Winfree.
Americans no longer trust the mainstream media, so they’re listening to podcasts instead. A new study shows that most podcast fans actually plan their day around their favorite shows—something they don’t do for TV news or newspapers. This makes sense when you consider that half of Americans think the major news networks are flat-out lying to them. People are dropping the big media companies and turning to podcast hosts who seem more real and honest.
But here’s the bigger problem: when nobody knows what to believe, how do we make good choices as a country? If you can’t trust what you’re hearing about candidates or important issues, how do you decide who to vote for? This isn’t just bad news for journalists—it’s bad news for everyone. Democracy only works when people can agree on basic facts, and right now, we’re nowhere close to that.
*Source: Gallup Poll conducted September 3-15, 2024*
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Trust in political and civic institutions highest for local and state governments, lowest for media and Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media — such as newspapers, television and radio — first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year.
For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express “not very much” confidence.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media — such as newspapers, television and radio — first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year.
For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express “not very much” confidence.
Gallup first asked this question in 1972 and has measured it in most years since 1997. In three readings in the 1970s, trust ranged from 68% to 72%, yet by Gallup’s next readings in the late 1990s and early 2000s, smaller majorities of 51% to 55% trusted the news media. The latest findings are from a poll conducted Sept. 3-15, which includes Gallup’s annual update on trust in the media and other civic and political entities in the U.S.
As has been the case historically, partisans have different levels of confidence in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. Currently, 54% of Democrats, 27% of independents and 12% of Republicans say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media. Independents’ trust matches the record low in 2022, while Democrats’ and Republicans’ are statistically similar to their historical low points.
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After dropping precipitously to the trend low of 51% in 2016, Democrats’ trust in the media ranged from 68% to 76% between 2017 and 2022 but fell to 58% last year and has edged down since.
Over the past two decades, significant gaps in trust have also emerged by age. An analysis by age groups using aggregated data to increase sample sizes shows a 17-percentage-point gap in trust between the oldest Americans (those aged 65 and older) and those under age 50 — 43% vs. 26%, respectively.
To read full article visit: News.Gallup.com
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