According to a new Gallup poll, Americans’ trust in the mass media “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly” has sunk to a new low of 32 percent, down eight percentage points from a year ago.
Advertisement
Trust in mass media was at its highest, 72 percent, in 1976, two years after Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate disclosures.
It is also possible that Republicans think less of the media as a result of Trump’s sharp criticisms of the press, Gallup says.
Republicans have the least confidence in the media, with their trust collapsing to just 14 percent-down from 32 percent a year ago. Among those between 18 and 49 years old, 26 percent trust the media today, down from 55 percent in 2001.
“Now, only about a third of the USA has any trust in the Fourth Estate, a stunning development for an institution created to inform the public”, it said. This is easily the lowest confidence among Republicans in 20 years, the analyst noted.
Talk among presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton of unfair treatment by the media may have contributed to the decline in trust.
Gallup reports: The percentage of Americans who trust the media dropped to its lowest level since Gallup launched an annual series monitoring American attitudes towards the media in 1997, according to results posted Wednesday..
“Look, the media, you know my opinion of the media”. Clearly, the problem of liberal media bias is a concern for the American public.
Gallup also blames the decline in media trust on the rise of social media and decaying editorial standards. This could, in turn, elevate Americans’ trust and confidence in the mass media as a whole, says Gallup. Fourteen percent of Republicans survey expressed trust, down from 32 percent in 2016.
The Gallup results validate findings of the Breitbart/Gravis poll conducted September 7 and September 8, wherein 52 percent of respondents said the media treats GOP nominee for president Donald J. Trump negatively compared to how other politicians are treated and 44 percent said the media treats Democratic nominee Hillary R. Clinton positively compared to others.
Advertisement
Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 60 percent cellphone respondents and 40 percent landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region.
