Are you surprised that only about 40% of Americans have at least a fair amount of trust in the mass news media?

Question

It used to be about 70% in the 1970s.

https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6457-gallup-poll-social-series-gov/2647bae2b32ea42cdbe0/optimized/full.pdf#page=1

(Scroll down to question 15 for the data.)

Answer 1

I am not surprised because I do not believe mass media.

Answer 2

I'm surprised it's 40%! I don't much watch anything in mass news media. Fake news? I'm sure most of it is. I watch a little in the mornings but that's about it.

Comments

Trust in the media has been shored up by Democrats, whose trust went up from about 50% to about 70% after Trump was elected, no doubt because they liked the stories the (mostly liberal) media were telling about Trump.

Answer 3

Hardly ever bother to watch the news anymore. Can't believe most of it anyways. The mass news media has gone so far downhill that it's unreal. I usually just try and get some facts from Net news.

Comments

Unreal is an understatement. They are beneath contempt.

Answer 4

Tink I am actually surprised it is that high...as many as 40%.

I say that because I myself have to be one of the most gullible people on the planet, and I do not have confidence in MSM any more. And all that really began here on SOLVED, in early 2017, in fact especially you and Marianne...as I was looking into what was going on in Iowa, where I got evicted from an old folks' home.

I assumed at first the eviction was just one corporation gone rogue and would soon encounter American checks and balances, I had done my patriotic duty by standing up to The Company...and then I ran into the big picture, based on Internet leads from people here on SOLVED, especially you and Marianne.

40% trust in MSM is way too high, if accurate that is of special concern for our nation. I myself might go to mass news media now for weather report, date of the county fair and such.

* * *

I see that is a Gallup poll...haven't those been under question lately, unreliable? I do think that 40% is high.

Comments

Well, Virginia, those Gallup figures claim that only about 10% have a great deal of trust in the news media, and that's been the case for many years. The 30% who have a "fair amount" of trust may be influenced by things other than domestic politics, so the poll question should probably have been more specific.

For example, I believe the media are being honest when they make weather forecasts, or when they are describing traffic conditions.

But I agree with you that 40% having a great deal or at least a fair amount of trust is too high when it comes to believing news reports in which the media have a political agenda, which they obviously do in many cases. Almost no one I know trusts the media much on political issues.

One would think that figures like these would make the media moguls worry about their public image, but it seems they only care about their viewer/reader base, that watches/reads them only to feed its confirmation bias.

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You prolly parsed it out pretty good here, Tink...yes I do count on them HIGH degree of trust regarding traffic snarls...

Sometimes I am amazed at what MSM, and its handlers, think they can still get by with, the psyops...but then your mention of confirmation bias -- yes THAT is still very very powerful.