Public Trust in News Media Inches Up, but Remains Historically Low

Americans’ trust in mass media has improved slightly from last year’s record low, a Gallup survey finds. Just one-third of Americans believe the media reports news fully, accurately and fairly, while two-thirds have limited or no confidence, Gallup found.

Some 33% of U.S. adult respondents say they have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in newspapers, television and radio to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” up from 28% last year. But an equal share say they have “not very much” confidence in the media, and the same number, 33% have “none at all.”

Despite this year’s increase, Americans’ confidence in the news media remains near the bottom of the record Gallup has kept for more than 50 years. When Gallup first asked the question in the 1970s, about seven in 10 Americans said they trusted the media. That confidence was still above 50% in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Public trust in the news media fell in 2004, reflecting a sharp drop in Republicans’ confidence after CBS News anchor Dan Rather’s reelection-year reporting on George W. Bush’s military service was called into question. Since then, the American people’s confidence in mass media has generally declined.

Most of the increase in trust for the news media this year is from an uptick among Republicans. Some 22% of Republicans polled now express confidence in the media, up from a record-low 8% last year, and the highest Republican reading since 2015. 

Democrats’ confidence is essentially unchanged at 50%, versus 51% last year, while independents’ confidence remains at 31%.