A troubling new study from the Center for Integrity in News Reporting has found that a majority of Democrats want the news media to tell them what is, or is not, true rather than simply reporting the facts.
CFINR partnered with YouGov to conduct the study of trust in major national news organizations.
Indeed, it is no surprise that trust in the media is at an all-time low. Gallup reported last year that only 28% of Americans trust the media to tell the truth.
CFINR’s survey went further, delving into attitudes toward the way news is reported.
On the whole, a majority of Americans — 53% — want the media to report what was said and allow the reader to decide, and 47% want the media to tell them whether statements are true or false.
Both Generation Z and Baby Boomers are closely split between wanting to make up their own minds and being told what is or is not true. Fifty-two percent of Gen X want to make up their own mind, and 59% of Millennials would prefer to make up their own mind.
Likewise, 59% of men would prefer to make up their own mind about the news, but only 47% of women.
Moreover, 56% of those who identify as Democrats or lean Democratic would prefer the media to tell them what the truth is, but 65% of those who identify as — or lean — Republican want the media to report what was said and let them make up their own mind. A slim majority of those who say they have no political leanings — 52% say they prefer to make up their own mind about the truth.
Additionally, the survey found that only two of the 11 most well-known national news organizations have a majority of Americans who have a great deal or fair amount of trust in them.
“In general, Americans have mixed feelings about major news media organizations. Two leading broadcast news networks (ABC and NBC) had the highest share of the public reporting trust in their organizations overall, with about half (53% and 51%, respectively) of Americans reporting that they have at least a ‘fair amount’ of trust in each,” the release from CFINR said. “Some organizations are less trusted. For example, Fox and MSNBC (recently rebranded to MS Now) have lower levels of trust than the other television networks (41% and 40% respectively). CNN was somewhat higher at 46%. The Wall Street Journal had the highest among print newspapers at 47%.”
CFINR also tracked whether the public felt that each outlet makes a clear distinction between news reporting and opinion.
“As with general trust in each organization, Americans have mixed views about the extent to which media outlets make a clear distinction between their news reporting and opinion,” the report reads. “Across the eleven outlets included in the survey, an average of only 13% of the public says that these outlets ‘always’ make a clear distinction between fact and opinion. On the other side, 16% on average say that these news outlets ‘never’ make this distinction clear.”
The study also found that Americans have very little trust that the media is not intentionally leaving out relevant information that would add context to a story.
“Only 12% of Americans say that they have ‘a great deal of trust’ in the ability of the media to present unbiased information, and nearly one-in-five (19%) overall say they have no trust at all,” the survey reported.
Even with ABC and NBC, only 11% and 10%, respectively, have a “great deal” of trust that they do not intentionally leave out relevant information.
Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said the media needs to work to regain the public’s trust.
