Survey: Less than one-third of Americans trust media coverage for accuracy

Less than one-third of Americans say they trust the mass media either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news accurately and with fairness, according to a new Gallup poll. While the 32% who gave the media a positive review ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading from 2016, it is statistically similar to Gallup’s findings in 2021 (36%) and 2022 (34%).

Gallup also noted another 29% of Americans have “not very much” trust in media accuracy, while a record-high 39% said they have “none at all.” This nearly four in 10 Americans who completely lack confidence in the media is the highest on record by one percentage point and it is also 12 points higher than the 2016 reading when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump dubbed the mainstream media “fake news.”

Democrats’ confidence in the media was at 58%, down 12 points from last year but still far ahead of the confidence expressed by Republicans (11%) and independents (29%).

Gallup conducted its poll Sept. 1-23, with a nationwide survey of 1,016 adults.