American Views, Part 2: Trust, Media and Democracy

Gallup/Knight Foundation
Democracy in America relies on an independent press to inform citizens with accurate information. Yet today, two forces pose significant challenges to this function: the growing struggle of news organizations to maintain financial independence and the growing distrust of news among the public.

The focus of the American Views 2022 Part 2 report is to expand understanding of the emotional factors that drive attitudes about the news.

To be sure, distrust of information or institutions is not necessarily bad. Some skepticism may be beneficial in today’s media environment, where the number of information sources available feels infinite, advanced technology often makes it difficult to identify reliable information and journalists inevitably make mistakes in their reporting. But 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. Our analysis demonstrates that these indicators of emotional trust in news are, in fact, distinct from the opinion that news organizations are capable of delivering accurate and fair reporting. MORE