Half of Americans believe that national news media deliberately mislead the public, according to a new Gallup-Knight Foundation poll.
According to the survey, 50% of respondents said national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform, or persuade the public; 53% of respondents said they had an unfavorable opinion of the media, which dipped slightly from the measurement taken in 2020.
"… This study suggests that many Americans are not solely skeptical of news today — they feel distrust on an emotional level, believing news organizations intend to mislead them and are indifferent to the social and political impact of their reporting," the analysis read.
While 72% of those surveyed said they think most national news organizations have the resources and opportunities to deliver information accurately, just 35% said they think they can be relied on to provide necessary information.
More than half said they do not think national news media "care about the best interests" of the public, and only 35% said these news outlets care about the impact their reporting has on society.
It was a different story when participants were asked about local news organizations.
Respondents had much more faith in local news outlets, with 53% saying they think local news organizations care about how their reporting affects society and 47% saying they "care about the best interests" of their audience.
Local news outlets are considered reliable by most Americans, with 44% saying they do not deliberately mislead the public.
Sixty-five percent of Americans said they believe local news organizations possess enough resources and opportunities to deliver necessary information; according to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, Media and Integrated Marketing Communications, local newspapers are closing at an average of two per week in the U.S.
Those surveyed reported having higher levels of emotional trust with local news organizations than with national news organizations, according to the poll, and those with higher levels of emotional trust were more likely to pay for news access in the future.
Those who reported lower levels of emotional trust in national news outlets were more likely to get their news online and to prefer getting their news from an outlet not included on the list of top 20 most preferred news organizations.
The poll was conducted from May 31 to July 21 and surveyed 5,593 American adults. The margin of error is plus/minus 1.5 percentage points.
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