The trust Americans have in the media's ability to report the news "fully, accurately, and fairly" has again fallen to an all-time low, according to a
new Gallup poll.
After a brief increase to 44 percent in 2013, the trust factor returned to its record low of 40 percent. Even among Democrats, trust in the media declined from 60 percent in 2013 to 54 percent, which represents a 14-year low.
Among Republicans, the level was at 27 percent, down from 33 percent in 2013, and trust among independents is at 38 percent, about the same as the 37 percent from 2013, according to Gallup.
In terms of their views of whether the media is ideologically biased, 44 percent of respondents believe the media is "too liberal" while 19 percent see it as "too conservative."
Although fewer respondents felt there was a conservative bias, the number of those who hold that view increased six points from 2013, the biggest rise since Gallup began asking the question in 2001.
The highest level reported recently was in 2005 when trust in the media was at 50 percent.
"As the media expand into new domains of news reporting via social media networks and new mobile technology, Americans may be growing disenchanted with what they consider 'mainstream' news as they seek out their own personal veins of getting information. At the same time, confidence is down across many institutions, and a general lack in trust overall could be at play," said Gallup's Justin McCarthy.
The same lack of faith in the media's fairness was evident
in a new study released Tuesday by the Media Research Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The research found that only a third of Hispanics and a quarter of African Americans believe their communities are accurately portrayed in the media, and only half of adults in either group believe their communities are covered regularly in the media today.
Asked whether the media stories about their community were accurate, 75 percent of blacks said only "moderately" or "slightly/not at all." When Hispanics were asked the same question, 66 percent replied "moderately" or "slightly/not at all."
"Many will believe there is embedded racism in many of America's systems: the media system, the legal system, the educational system. Many will believe that minorities aren't treated fairly in those systems, and because of that, any products that come out of it will be problematic," Tia C. M. Tyree, a Howard University professor, told
The Associated Press.
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