Gallup/Knight Survey: Half of Americans Believe “News Organizations Intend to Mislead Them”

WILLIAM A. JACOBSON

FEB 16, 2023 8:30 PM

We know that trust in the media has suffered, with Democrats/liberals have much more faith than Republican/conservatives, no surprise there. But trust among independents also is way down.

But the latest survey show that lack of trust has turned to disgust. AP reports:

Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.

The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.

Asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, 50% said they disagreed. Only 25% agreed, the study found.

Similarly, 52% disagreed with a statement that disseminators of national news “care about the best interests of their readers, viewers and listeners,” the study found. It said 23% of respondents believed the journalists were acting in the public’s best interests.

“That was pretty striking for us,” said Sarah Fioroni, a consultant for Gallup. The findings showed a depth of distrust and bad feeling that go beyond the foundations and processes of journalism, she said.

Here is the key finding in the Survey:

… this study suggests that many Americans are not solely skeptical of news today — they feel distrust on an emotional level, believing news organizations intend to mislead them and are indifferent to the social and political impact of their reporting.

Some specific results:

Only 26% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the news media, the lowest level Gallup and Knight have recorded in the past five years, while 53% hold an unfavorable view.

Across all political affiliations, more Americans say they hold an unfavorable opinion of the news media compared to a survey conducted in late 2019-early 2020. This rise is especially pronounced among independents but is also apparent among Democrats — who typically hold more favorable views of the media.

Perceptions of political bias in news coverage have also increased, with independents driving the trend, followed by Republicans, then Democrats.

Young people continue to hold more negative perceptions of the news media than older generations, confirming previous findings.

* * *

Fifty percent of Americans feel most national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public.

None of this is surprising.. National news media always has had a liberal bias, but in the age of Trump national media manipulated the news, something we covered here almost daily for several years. The media decision to shut down and falsely discredit — with the help of Big Tech — the Biden family corruption story as revealed on Hunter Biden’s laptop, likely affected the outcome of the election.

It’s also no surprise that the beneficiaries of national media manipulation – Democrats – have a much higher trust in media. Interestingly, these charts were included in the pdf. but not in the web version of the report:

The national media, which is almost entirely liberal/left, deserves the distrust.

Tags: Gallup Poll, Media Bias

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