Waking Up: New Poll Shows 60 Percent of Americans Don’t Trust Mainstream Media
A new Gallup poll has found that
six in 10 Americans say that their trust in mass media ranges from “not
very much” to “none at all.” Those surveyed were asked about the media
reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly.
Just 33 percent said they had a “fair amount” of trust in mass media such as newspapers, TV and radio, and only 7 percent had a “great deal” of trust and confidence that the mass media reports the news, according to a Gallup poll released this week.
Ten years ago, Gallup found an even split of 50/50 among Americans
regarding their trust and lack of trust of the media. According to their
poll results, the last time the majority of Americans trusted their
media was 1976.
“Americans’ trust level in the media has drifted downward over
the past decade…Some of the loss in trust may have been self-inflicted,” wrote Rebecca Riffkin, a Gallup analyst, in a statement.
“Major venerable news organizations have been caught making
serious mistakes in the past several years, including the scandal
involving former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams in 2015 that
some of his firsthand accounts of news events had been exaggerated or
‘misremembered.’”
Ten years ago, Gallup found an even split of 50/50 among Americans
regarding their trust and lack of trust of the media. According to their
poll results, the last time the majority of Americans trusted their
media was 1976.
“Americans’ trust level in the media has drifted downward over
the past decade…Some of the loss in trust may have been self-inflicted,” wrote Rebecca Riffkin, a Gallup analyst, in a statement.
“Major venerable news organizations have been caught making
serious mistakes in the past several years, including the scandal
involving former NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams in 2015 that
some of his firsthand accounts of news events had been exaggerated or
‘misremembered.’”
