GALLUP POLL: Americans' trust in mass media falls to record-low of 31%

By avagrace // 2024-10-25

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Only 31 percent of Americans have a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of trust in mass media "when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly," according to a Gallup poll conducted in early September. More Americans say they have no trust in mass media at all. Americans continue to register record-low trust in mass media. For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36 percent). Another 33 percent of Americans express "not very much" confidence. (Related: Most Americans see corporate-controlled media as a threat to the nation.) Gallup first asked the question in 1972 and has measured it in most years since 1997. In three readings in the 1970s, trust ranged from 68 percent to 72 percent. By Gallup's next readings in the late 1990s and early 2000s, smaller majorities of 51 percent to 55 percent trusted the news media. The latest findings are from a poll conducted from Sept. 3 to 15, which includes Gallup's annual update on trust in the media and other civic and political entities in the United States. As has been the case historically, there are partisan differences to the level of confidence people have in the media to report the news truthfully. Currently, 54 percent of Democrats, 27 percent of independents and 12 percent 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. After dropping precipitously to the trend low of 51 percent in 2016, Democrats’ trust in the media ranged from 68 percent to 76 percent between 2017 and 2022 but fell to 58 percent last year and has edged down since.

Media companies least trusted institutions in the U.S.

Trust in the Fourth Estate is at a record-low this year, and news media is the least trusted group among 10 U.S. civic and political institutions involved in the democratic process. Only 31 percent of Americans have a great deal or fair amount of trust in mass media, a group that includes newspapers and TV and radio stations. Mass media is followed by the federal legislative branch of government, which consists of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, with 34 percent having a great deal or fair amount of trust in Congress. They are followed by the federal government as a whole "when it comes to handling domestic problems" (37 percent); the executive branch headed by President Joe Biden (40 percent); and the federal government "when it comes to handling international problems." These five institutions are followed by "men and women in political life in this country who either hold or are running for public office," with 46 percent having a great deal or fair amount of trust in them. They are followed by the judicial branch, which includes but is not limited to the U.S. Supreme Court at 48 percent. Following them are "the American people as a whole when it comes to making judgements under our democratic system about the issues facing our country" (54 percent); "the government of the state where you live when it comes to handling state problems" (55 percent); and "local governments in the area where you live when it comes to handling local problems" (67 percent). Watch this commentary on how mass media lies to its audiences. This video is from the channel Follower of Christ777 at Brighteon.com.

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Media companies least trusted institutions in the U.S.

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