Despite the media's legacy of overwhelming liberal bias, less than a third of Democrat Americans have trust in television news, a new national survey reveals.
According to results of a national Economist/YouGov poll of adults released Tuesday, just 31% of Democrats say they have either quite a lot or a great deal of confidence in the institution of television news, while one in four say they have very little confidence. Another 44% say they have some trust in television news.
Among all U.S. adult citizens, less than one in five (17%) trust television news, while 83% do not have much confidence in the institution, including half 48% who have very little trust.
When it comes to newspapers, Democrats’ confidence is only slightly greater. Here, 40% have either quite a lot or a great deal of trust in the institution, while 60% have only some or very little. Twice as many (15%) have very little confidence in newspapers as have a great deal (7%).
Only 5% of all U.S. adults have a great deal of trust in newspapers, while 18% have quite a lot and 39% have some – but, 38% have very little.
The national survey of U.S. adult citizens, conducted November 21 to 24, polled confidence in 15 institutions. Only big business and Congress fared worse than television news, while newspapers also topped the criminal justice system.
Democrats were more likely than Republicans to say they trust newspapers, television news, organized labor, and public schools, while Republicans were more prone to profess confidence in the police, the criminal justice system, the military, and small business.
