Potentially helpful for the Republicans, including Mr. Trump, is the slight edge Republicans have over the Democrats in Americans’ view of which party can better handle the issue they named as the top problem, Gallup says.
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Americans’ slightly reduced satisfaction with the US healthcare system comes during a presidential election in which Obamacare has been hotly debated. “This is easily the lowest confidence among Republicans in 20 years”, Swift noted. Currently, 26 percent of those aged 18 to 49 (down from 36 percent last year) and 38 percent of those aged 50 and older (down from 45 percent) say they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media.
Gallup said in a press release that the latest poll results were shocking primarily because it showed that Americans’ trust in the fourth pillar of democracy had taken such a beating.
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.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has widely criticized the mainstream media for biased coverage, misinterpretation of his comments and outright lying. Among “Republican” voters, faith in the media now stands at a paltry 14 percent – down from 32 percent a year ago (and down from a recent peak of 52 percent in 1998). Younger Democratic voters, however, overwhelmingly supported Vermont Sen.
The drop in overall trust this year was caused in part by a conspicuous decline among Republican respondents, who reported a lack in confidence as pundits and politicians accused reporters of giving Hillary Clinton preferential treatment, according to Gallup. “However, the slide in media trust has been happening for the past decade”, Swift said.
“Americans may be wary of placing trust on the work of media institutions that have less rigorous reporting criteria than in the past”. Thirty percent of independents trust the media, down from 53 percent in 1997.
“With the explosion of the mass media in recent years, especially the prevalence of blogs, vlogs and social media, perhaps Americans decry lower standards for journalism”.
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Adding insult to injury, a new CareerCast report lists “broadcaster” as one of the most overrated jobs in America, with a growth outlook of -9 percent. Only the Federal government and the Congress polled worse.
