Trust in Mass Media Returns to All-Time Low
This is courtesy of our friend Glen Downs. Thank you Glen.
Six-percentage-point drops in trust among Democrats and Republicans
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After registering slightly higher trust last year, Americans’ confidence in the media’s ability to report “the news fully, accurately, and fairly” has returned to its previous all-time low of 40%. Americans’ trust in mass media has generally been edging downward from higher levels in the late 1990s and the early 2000s.
Prior to 2004, Americans placed more trust in mass media than they do now, with slim majorities saying they had a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust. But over the course of former President George W. Bush’s re-election season, the level of trust fell significantly, from 54% in 2003 to 44% in 2004. Although trust levels rebounded to 50% in 2005, they have failed to reach a full majority since.
Americans’ trust in the media in recent years has dropped slightly in election years, including 2008, 2010, 2012, and again this year — only to edge its way back up again in the following odd-numbered years. Although the differences between the drops and the recoveries are not large, they suggest that something about national elections triggers skepticism about the accuracy of the news media’s reporting.
Among Democrats, Trust in Media at a 14-Year Low
Trust among Democrats, who have traditionally expressed much higher levels of confidence in the media than Republicans have, dropped to a 14-year low of 54% in 2014. Republicans’ trust in the media is at 27%, one percentage point above their all-time low, while independents held steady at 38% — up one point from 37% in 2013.
Sharp Uptick in Americans Who Think News Media Are “Too Conservative”
As has been the case historically, Americans are most likely to feel the news media are “too liberal” (44%) rather than “too conservative,” though this perceived liberal bias is now on the lower side of the trend. One in three (34%) say the media are “just about right” in terms of their coverage — down slightly from 37% last year.
Nearly one in five Americans (19%) say the media are too conservative, which is still relatively low, but the highest such percentage since 2006. This is up six points from 2013 — the sharpest increase in the percentage of Americans who feel the news skews too far right since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.
Conservatives (70%) are far more likely than liberals (15%) to perceive the media as too liberal. Moderates’ views are closer to liberals, with 35% calling the media too liberal. Likewise, relatively few moderates — similar to conservatives — think the media are too conservative.
Democrats — with a small majority of 52% — are most likely to think the media are just about right, while a mere 18% of Republicans feel this way about the news. More than seven in 10 Republicans say the media are too liberal.
Bottom Line
Though a sizable percentage of Americans continue to have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media, Americans’ overall trust in the Fourth Estate continues to be significantly lower now than it was 10 to 15 years ago.
As the media expand into new domains of news reporting via social media networks and new mobile technology, Americans may be growing disenchanted with what they consider “mainstream” news as they seek out their own personal veins of getting information. At the same time, confidence is down across many institutions, and a general lack in trust overall could be at play.
Americans’ opinions about the media appear affected in election years, however. Americans’ trust in the media will likely recover slightly in 2015 with the absence of political campaigns. But the overarching pattern of the past decade has shown few signs of slowing the decline of faith in mass media as a whole.
Interviews are conducted with respondents on landline telephones and cellular phones, with interviews conducted in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods. Landline respondents are chosen at random within each household on the basis of which member had the most recent birthday.
Samples are weighted to correct for unequal selection probability, nonresponse, and double coverage of landline and cell users in the two sampling frames. They are also weighted to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education, region, population density, and phone status (cellphone only/landline only/both, and cellphone mostly). Demographic weighting targets are based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. Phone status targets are based on the most recent National Health Interview Survey. Population density targets are based on the most recent U.S. census. All reported margins of sampling error include the computed design effects for weighting.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
View survey methodology, complete question responses, and trends.
For more details on Gallup’s polling methodology, visit www.gallup.com.
My guess, Professor, is conventional print media.
The internet, imo, does not qualify as mass media, as the internet is a huge and varied thing. There is mass media available via the internet.
I think that US mass media can roughly be defined as the media owned by 6 corporations from which 90% of American opinion is formed. That’s the stat I’ve seen, and it seems accurate.
And that is why Americans are so thoroughly brainwashed and clueless on just about everything of importance, which is why the country is going down the tubes.
Agree GH
Wow. 40% is the all-time low? 20% should be the all-time high.
And we wonder why our “money” is paper…
http://www.isteve.com/Idiocracy_Money.jpg
Great picture!
hear, hear!
Meanwhile on the southern border:
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/09/breaking-islamist-terrorists-captured-on-us-border-on-september-10-day-before-9-11-video/
I just watched the video and continue to be amazed!
However the latest poll indicates Great Britain will probably stay united, even if no longer great.
A picture speaks a thousand words.
What if the Russian AND Chinese GDP were added together on Zerohedge’s chart?
What if Russia and China were organizing to promote joint influence in Africa? In case anyone here is not following the story there has been a great deal of interest paid to the fast developing African economies in recent months and in particular there have been political and investment overtures made through the AU (African Union) to draw nations into one fold or another.
The most recent of these happened yesterday as the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov made a speech at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopa outlining Russian intentions in the region. You can read his speech linked below if interested.
There has in fact been a flurry of activity in recent days and weeks from all the major nations and regions of the world in promising aid, investment, agricultural assistance and technology transfers. It is really unprecedented how much is happening at once and how quickly it is taking place. Billions upon billions of dollars have been committed or promised. So much so that I am now under the impression that a major battle for influence is underway.
We have seen and heard dignitaries from the IMF, from the World Bank, from the major Credit Rating Agencies, the Leaders of the US, China and a multitude of European countries all converge at once in support of Africa and it’s many nations. This is incredibly encouraging on so many levels. But I remain worried that deeper motives are at play and that these perhaps relate to the weight of votes held by African nations at the UN and other major international bodies.
In the meantime, all the support could not come at a better time. African development, while on a fast track today, is still lacking the capital, technology and skills required to really break out from a century or more of deep impoverishment. There is great progress but much more needs to be done.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs -Russian Federation. Speech in Addis Ababa September 17 2014
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/0/2D59E20362FD5D0044257D57004D8CED
Thanks Bird
And in Syria, ISIS seems fully cognizant of the power of newsmedia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI3eWXYC2UU
and its power to change opinions.
That is an interesting video. What is your opinion?
Cory and Al. What is going on with your site. I am asking because again today I cannot open threads. This time it is Ricks. Yesterday it was the roundtable. The day before it was Gary’s thread. What gives? You are doing something different because this has not happened before.
Waiting for an answer.
I am not sure what this issue is Birdman. We have not changed the way we post our interviews. Do you receive an error message when you try to open the thread?
We will work with our IT person to figure this out. Whatever information you can give us is helpful.
I second that Bird. Thanks
OK, thanks guys. I don’t know what else to say except that a few threads will not open. I click on them and nothing happens. I just wait and wait and wait. Tried it many times but they won’t connect. Other threads give no problems at all. I just thought that maybe you guys were blocking specific ones although why makes no sense unless you are just sick of hearing from me (I don’t blame you in that case).
Never sick and tired Bird. I have passed this on.
Having the same problem…..found that exiting the site and re-entering will help for the first try…after that I have to re-enter the site…. for what it’s worth…….
Thanks Gator. So it is not just me. Al, I would really appreciate if your tech gug can sort this out.
Sarah is on it.
Gator and Bird,
Sarah asked if you could specify what you cannot enter. She will check it out.
Thanks,
Al
“Views from Gary Savage” appears to give me the most trouble. It won’t open unless I exit the site and return OR click on two or three different threads and then go back to Gary Savage……Could just be an internet bug that never will be found…..I don’t get an error message but there is a circle with a diagonal line through it that appears when I click on the Gary Savage thread….and then it just sits there until I exit…….I am not computer literate so this explanation probably sounds silly……
I wondr exactly what the definition of “mass media” is that Gallup uses.
Since I consider the internet as part of mass media, and with its immense diversification, I believe there never has been a time in history when it is so possible to find the real truth in anything.