Analyzes American attitudes toward trust, media and democracy since 2017. While a majority of Americans acknowledge the news media's crucial role in democracy, they believe it falls short due to perceived inaccuracy and bias.
The collaboration between Gallup and Knight Foundation offers a comprehensive exploration of American sentiments concerning trust, media, and democracy from 2017 to 2022. The research highlights that while a significant majority of Americans recognize the essential role of the news media in upholding democracy, there is a prevailing sentiment that it falls short due to perceived inaccuracies and biases.
During this five-year period, significant social and political events underscored the importance of studying the intersection of trust media and democracy. These events include, but are not limited to, increasingly polarized elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and heightened awareness of issues related to racial and social justice.
The results underscore the expansion of adverse perceptions regarding the U.S. news media, revealing the factors influencing such sentiments that transcend political divides.
Negative sentiment about the U.S. news media has grown over time.
Affirming the findings of widespread public polling on this subject, Gallup/Knight tracked the steady decline in general positive feelings toward the news media over the five-year partnership.
A majority of Americans believe the news media plays a critical role in our democracy but falls short in supporting democracy well.
The public’s declining trust in news media does not appear to be a rejection of its essential role in democratic life. Instead, there appears to be concern about whether it fulfills civic duty well.
Perceptions of inaccuracy and bias are the top reasons for distrust in news media.
The percentage of Americans who perceive political bias in news coverage increased from 45% in 2017 to 55% in 2022.
In an in-depth 2018 study on drivers of trust and distrust, the most commonly reported issues were inaccurate and misleading reporting, lies, alternative facts or fake news (45%) and biased, slanted or unfair reporting (42%).
In the same 2018 study, factors contributing to trust in news organizations include commitment to accuracy (89%), correcting errors quickly (86%), fairness (78%) and record of inaccurate/false information (77%).
Cynicism toward national news organizations in the U.S. runs deep (Gallup/Knight 2022 American Views).
Most Americans did not believe national news organizations have their best interests in mind (52%) and many believed national news organizations do not care about how their reporting influences society, culture and politics (43%).
However, a majority believed national news organizations do have sufficient resources for accurate and fair reporting (72%).
Fifty percent of Americans feel most national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public.
Americans consistently trust local news organizations more than national news organizations.
Compared with views about national news, Americans’ views on local news organizations have been consistently more positive.
Attitudes toward the news media are not solely defined by partisanship.
Despite being the strongest predictor across extensive public polling and academic research, it was critical to push beyond political party polarization when researching attitudes toward news media. In our studies, there was evidence of other personal factors and news habits affecting attitudes toward the news.
Age: Data from late 2019-early 2020 showed that younger adults consistently have reported lower levels of trust in the news media than older adults (only 30% of adults ages 18–23 vs. 41% of adults over age 55).
News medium: Analysis using data collected in the 2022 American Views showed that only 15% of Americans who get their news primarily from online sources reported high emotional trust in national news, while 31% of those who get their news primarily from TV and 35% of those who get their news from newspapers or magazines did.
Source type: In 2022, about one-third of Americans (32%) reported more trust in public individuals than news organizations for reporting on news and current events, and about half (47%) reported more trust in individual sources of information than news organizations for commentary and analysis of news and political or social issues.
Trust is related to important aspects of a healthy news industry and civic life in America (Gallup/Knight 2022 American Views).
In 2022, an overwhelming majority of Americans with low emotional trust in national news (78%) said they find it difficult to sort out the facts because of too much perceived bias in news media reporting (compared to 15% among those with high emotional trust).
Willingness to pay for news was greater among those with high versus low emotional trust in national news (26% vs. 13%).
Compared with those who have high emotional trust in national news organizations, those with low emotional trust were much less likely to believe elections are free and fair (70% vs. 22%), news organizations are free from government interference (49% vs. 10%) and elected officials advocate for the best interests of the community or citizens they represent (29% vs. 4%).
Explore the Focus Areas of Gallup/Knight Trust, Media and Democracy
Knight Foundation launched the Trust, Media and Democracy initiative in 2017 to inform solutions to declining trust in journalism and other democratic institutions.
