U.S. Media Trust Continues to Recover From 2016 Low.
Byline: Jeffrey M. Jones
Synopsis: Americans' trust in the media has continued to improve from the record low in 2016, but remains lower than it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Forty-five percent of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the mass media to report the news "fully, accurately and fairly," representing a continued recovery from the all-time low of 32% in 2016. Media trust is now the highest it has been since 2009 but remains below what it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
When Gallup first asked Americans to evaluate the mass media in a 1972 survey, 68% said they trusted it a great deal or a fair amount. In 1974 and 1976 surveys, trust remained near 70%.
Two decades later, the next time Gallup asked the question, trust in the media had fallen to 53%. It held at about that level through 2003, before falling to 44% in 2004 amid controversy over inaccurate reporting by Dan Rather of CBS News about George W. Bush's military service. CBS later issued an apology for the report. Although media trust rebounded slightly to 50% a year later, it has yet to return to the majority level.
All party groups' trust in the media hit record lows in 2016 and has increased in the past two years. Democrats' trust surged last year and is now at 76%, the highest in Gallup's trend by party, based on available data since 1997. Independents' trust in the media is now at 42%, the highest for that group since 2005. Republicans continue to lag well behind the other party groups -- just 21% trust the media -- but that is up from 14% in 2016 and last year.
Republicans have typically placed less trust in the media than independents and especially Democrats, but the gap between Republicans and Democrats has grown. The current 55-percentage-point gap is among the largest to date, along with last year's 58-point gap. President Donald Trump's attacks on the "mainstream media" are likely a factor in the increasingly polarized views of the media. Republicans agree with his assertions that the media unfairly covers his administration, while Democrats may see the media as the institution primarily checking the president's power.
Trust in the mass media differs significantly by age, and in a way that runs counter to the groups' typical party leanings: Older...
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