American media trust at record low - Gallup Oct 2024

AnnieA

AnnieA

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Americans' Trust in Media Remains at Trend Low

(Some graphs in the article discuss political affiliation. Please do not discuss those per forum rules.)


This backs my thinking exactly. I long ago lost trust in the legacy media. I do not even bother with TV news but read news online from a variety of sources with differing ideological bias and try to figure out the truth. Often this requires finding video to determine whether a news story takes comments out of context or reading original source material such as studies or polls like this one.

I've gotten frustrated sometimes at how many people on this board disproportionately trust legacy media opposed to other forums I'm on that have members of all ages. Gallup addresses this (graph below). I fall within the 50-64 age group which is more distrusting of media sources than 65+ which makes sense when you think of lifetime habits.

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans continue to register record-low trust in the mass media, with 31% expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” similar to last year’s 32%. Americans’ trust in the media -- such as newspapers, television and radio -- first fell to 32% in 2016 and did so again last year.​
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For the third consecutive year, more U.S. adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% of Americans express “not very much” confidence.​
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Gallup first asked this question in 1972 and has measured it in most years since 1997. In three readings in the 1970s, trust ranged from 68% to 72%, yet by Gallup’s next readings in the late 1990s and early 2000s, smaller majorities of 51% to 55% trusted the news media. The latest findings are from a poll conducted Sept. 3-15, which includes Gallup’s annual update on trust in the media and other civic and political entities in the U.S.​
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Overall trust graph

Gallup media overall 2024.jpg
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Trust by age:

Gallup media age 2024.jpg

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I, too, lost my trust in the mainstream media a long time ago. I got my master's in newspaper editing back in the early 90s. Our professors went to great lengths to impress on us the importance of impartiality, even encouraging us to refrain from voting. It was a far cry from what I see actually practiced today.

Any pretense at a lack of bias on the part of the mainstream American media seems to have gone out the window years ago. They don't even try to hide their preferences. I find it appalling. One really has to try to stay on top of things, and peruse a variety of news sources, to try to get an accurate picture of what is going on versus what is being reported.
 
KSav said:
I, too, lost my trust in the mainstream media a long time ago. I got my master's in newspaper editing back in the early 90s. Our professors went to great lengths to impress on us the importance of impartiality, even encouraging us to refrain from voting. It was a far cry from what I see actually practiced today.

Any pretense at a lack of bias on the part of the mainstream American media seems to have gone out the window years ago. They don't even try to hid their preferences. I find it appalling. One really has to try to sootay on top of things, and peruse a variety opf news sources, to try to get an accurate picture of what is going on versus what is being reported.
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Can definitely understand with your background that you are frustrated!
 

Nathan said:
I would say virtually all mainstream media do a fair job of reporting sports, weather and traffic. Because of the political divide the majority of network news shies away from all but very minimum coverage of current events, for fear of alienating the precious revenue generating audience.
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I wouldn’t know about traffic and other things covered on TV but do see a lot of biased coverage in online news articles on polarizing topics from legacy media.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that some news that is negative against the bias of publications (or positive for stances they ideologically disagree with) isn’t covered at all.
 
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Aunt Bea said:
I don’t expect much and I’m seldom disappointed.

The modern trend of reporting things without independently verifying is very troubling to me.
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It is troubling and is compounded by fact checking sites that are also sometimes biased though they do tend to have more in dept information about original source material which is helpful for diving deeper.
 
I am wondering if anyone else uses the "Brave" browser? A new feature is that is has some deal with "perplexity.ai" to do an independent search and use info from perplexity, to give an in depth answer to some hard questions. I have found it to be the most reliable source for info, and it has references for all the info it has found.
 
Paco Dennis said:
I am wondering if anyone else uses the "Brave" browser? A new feature is that is has some deal with "perplexity.ai" to do an independent search and use info from perplexity, to give an in depth answer to some hard questions. I have found it to be the most reliable source for info, and it has references for all the info it has found.
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Interesting. Will check that out.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I guess if politicians, who any time they get caught in lies, scream "FAKE NEWS", does have an affect. - especially when they're repeatedly caught lying.
Then, of course, the other reason is Fox news.
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If you look at the graph, the downward trend precedes the obvious object of your first accusation.

And “fake/Faux news” charge is hurled by both polarized tribes.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I guess if politicians, who any time they get caught in lies, scream "FAKE NEWS", does have an affect. - especially when they're repeatedly caught lying.
Then, of course, the other reason is Fox news.
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How is this not an intentionally political remark?

Even scarier, who puts any credence in the highly political bias and lies of the basket of media outlets who chose the other audience?
 
Your level of higher education makes a difference in how much you trust the news.

Research shows that people with a four-year college degree generally have higher levels of trust in news than those without a college education. Studies by the Pew Research Center, for example, indicate that higher educational attainment is correlated with greater trust in news media, likely due to several factors:
  • Exposure to Diverse Perspectives: College-educated individuals often engage with diverse information sources and critical thinking exercises, which may enhance their confidence in identifying reliable information.
  • News Consumption Habits: People with a degree tend to consume news more frequently, leading to greater familiarity with media norms, journalistic practices, and reliable outlets.
  • Media Literacy Skills: Those with a higher education are often better equipped with media literacy skills, which help them discern credible sources from misinformation or biased content.
 
KSav said:
I, too, lost my trust in the mainstream media a long time ago. I got my master's in newspaper editing back in the early 90s. Our professors went to great lengths to impress on us the importance of impartiality, even encouraging us to refrain from voting. It was a far cry from what I see actually practiced today.

Any pretense at a lack of bias on the part of the mainstream American media seems to have gone out the window years ago. They don't even try to hide their preferences. I find it appalling. One really has to try to stay on top of things, and peruse a variety of news sources, to try to get an accurate picture of what is going on versus what is being reported.
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I had no idea there was a Master's in Editing. Have you worked as an editor or journalist?
 
AnnieA said:
It is troubling and is compounded by fact checking sites that are also sometimes biased though they do tend to have more in dept information about original source material which is helpful for diving deeper.
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If people would stop telling outrageous lies and spewing out hate towards anyone who looks or thinks differently, there wouldn't have to be any fact checking. They're not biased. If one group or party tells more lies than others, they should be fact checked more. Are we supposed to let known serial liars spread their falsehoods, and destroy peoples reputations, and just believe it?
 
Of course a factor omitted above is that people who have been put through what passes for "higher education" in recent decades have been deeply indoctrinated in a belief system most mainstream media promotes and exploits.
 
HermitHogan said:
Your level of higher education makes a difference in how much you trust the news.

Research shows that people with a four-year college degree generally have higher levels of trust in news than those without a college education. Studies by the Pew Research Center, for example, indicate that higher educational attainment is correlated with greater trust in news media, likely due to several factors:
  • Exposure to Diverse Perspectives: College-educated individuals often engage with diverse information sources and critical thinking exercises, which may enhance their confidence in identifying reliable information.
  • News Consumption Habits: People with a degree tend to consume news more frequently, leading to greater familiarity with media norms, journalistic practices, and reliable outlets.
  • Media Literacy Skills: Those with a higher education are often better equipped with media literacy skills, which help them discern credible sources from misinformation or biased content.
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I have two master’s degrees and feel my education (one MS in a very diverse setting) causes me to distrust most news regardless of partisan flavor. My education also gives me the skills to think critically and motivates me to delve beyond superficial articles.

Have also always been inquisitive which is helpful to resist polarized indoctrinations so am skeptical of biased (on either side) news outlets. I’m skeptical of most of what I initially read and work hard to find context and original source material.

Edit to add that it’s highly likely that people with ‘trusted sources’ of whatever flavor are likely to be less educated and are therefore more easily indoctrinated and less likely to question what they read and delve deeper into original sources.
 
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Brookswood said:
Bezos’ letter to WA Post employees was interesting.
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The OP poll predates it and the trend downward has been going on for years.

(Edit to add just skimmed Bezos’ op ed and he leads with the credibility issue.)
 
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HermitHogan said:
I had no idea there was a Master's in Editing. Have you worked as an editor or journalist?
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I've been working as an academic editor for nearly 30 years. I was a terrible journalist; I hated the reporting part, and the hours of newspaper copyeditors don't lend themselves well to having children. (They're at the end stages of the production cycle and usually the last ones to leave the newsroom, although I suppose in these days of digital media that perhaps is no longer the case.)
 

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