Americans' confidence in television news has hit an all-time low, according to a new
survey released Tuesday by Gallup.
Only
twenty-one percent of the 1,004 adults polled said they had "a great
deal" or "a lot" of confidence in television news media, continuing a
steady decline from the 46 percent who expressed confidence in
television media in 1993.
Meanwhile, just 25 percent (down from 28% last year) of those polled
expressed confidence in newspapers -- the second-lowest rating since
1973 and less than half of the 51-percent peak in 1979.
"It is not clear precisely why Americans soured so much on television
news this year compared with last," when confidence was at 27 percent,
Gallup wrote. "Americans' negativity likely reflects the continuation of
a broader trend that appeared to enjoy only a brief respite last year.
Americans have grown more negative about the media in recent years, as
they have about many other U.S. institutions and the direction of the
country in general."
Confidence in television news also declined across the ideological
spectrum, though the decline in confidence among liberals and moderates
was far more severe, putting their outlook below that of conservatives
for the first time since 2007. Nineteen percent of liberals expressed
confidence in television media, versus 20 percent of moderates and 22
percent of conservatives.
Liberals and moderates lost so much confidence in television news
this year -- 11 and 10 points, respectively -- that their views are now
more akin to conservatives' views. This marks a turnaround from the
pattern seen since 2009, in which liberals expressed more confidence
than conservatives. Conservatives' views of television news were last
similar to liberals' in June 2008, before the last presidential
election. However, moderates are significantly less confident now than
they were then, 20% vs. 28%.
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