(PresidentialInsider.com)- Last week, Gallup released its tracking of the public’s confidence in key US institutions – a tracking poll Gallup began in 1972. And America’s trust in the news media is down to its second-lowest point in nearly fifty years.
Only 36 percent of Americans trust US news media outlets – of those, a measly seven percent of Americans say they have “a great deal” of trust while 29 percent say they have “a fair amount” of trust.
During the height of the 2016 presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, a Gallup tracking survey found that only 32 percent of Americans trusted the corporate media. So this year’s tracking is only four points away from hitting the record.
In 2017, the number began to bounce back some, but now, it looks like it’s heading in another downward trajectory.
Overall, in Gallup’s latest tracking, 63 percent of respondents say they don’t trust the news media. Of those, 29 percent say they have “not very much” trust in the media while 34 percent say they have “none at all.”
Naturally trust in the Democrat-leaning corporate news media is higher among Democrat voters than it is Republican voters.
Sixty-eight percent of Democrats trust the media either “a great deal” or “a fair amount.” Whereas only 11 percent of Republicans say the same. But even among Independents, only 31 percent now say they trust the media “a great deal” or a “fair amount.”
The divide between Republicans and Democrats is the widest it has been since 2017 when overall trust in the news media rebounded 13 points from its lowest point in 2016.
When it comes to confidence in the accuracy and fairness of the news media’s reporting, Republicans have always been doubtful. Trust among Republicans has not risen above 52 percent in twenty-five years.
In fact, according to Gallup, the overall trust in the news media has not risen to above 50 percent since 2003.
Gallup conducted this tracking poll from September 1 to 17 among 1,005 adults. It has a margin of error of 4 percent.
