Americans seem to be closely divided on most major issues,
from gun control to immigration. Even Presidential campaigns are won and lost
by only a few percentage points. But here’s a subject that seems to be uniting
us. By a full 20 percentage points, we don’t trust the mass media.
Gallup has been monitoring the public’s confidence in the
media for decades. And it’s never been so low. In 2011 the spread was
11 percentage points – 44% saying they have a great deal or a fair amount of
trust in the media, 55% saying they have not very much or none at all. Now, a
year later, that credibility gap has essentially doubled: 40% with some degree
of trust, and 60% with little or none.
The drop-off in media credibility has been even more dramatic over the
years. In the ‘70s, confidence in the media ran as high as 72%.
Why the distrust? At least in large part, it seems,
politics. The differences in media attitudes among different political
philosophies are stark: among Democrats, 58% express trust in the media;
independents, 31%; and Republicans, only 26%. As the chart above shows, media
credibility always takes a hit during the presidential election cycle – but
never as great as this year’s.
Maybe it’s not the media’s fault. Considering our
dysfunctional government today, maybe there’s a “shoot-the-messenger” aspect to
all this: we don’t like the news being delivered, so we don’t like the
deliverer. In any event, it’s another threat to the traditional news media that
are having to scramble to prove themselves relevant – and economically viable –
in the digital age.
Let’s hope they can rebuild public trust after the election.
Maybe do some p.r.?
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