Legacy media have spent years perpetuating some of the biggest hoaxes in modern history — and it appears the American public is continuing to notice.
On Thursday, Gallup released the results of its annual survey of Americans’ confidence in media. The poll’s baseline finding is that trust in the country’s “Democracy dies in darkness!” crowd is at the lowest point ever recorded.
According to the survey, just 28 percent of Americans expressed having a “‘great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, accurately and fairly.” That figure, Gallup noted, “is down from 31% last year and 40% five years ago,” and “marks the first time the measure has fallen below 30%.”
“Meanwhile, seven in 10 U.S. adults now say they have ‘not very much’ confidence (36%) or ‘none at all’ (34%),” the report reads.
Gallup highlighted how trust in media has declined among Americans of all political backgrounds.
While more Democrats and independents expressed “great” or “fair” confidence in the media (51 percent and 27 percent, respectively) than Republicans (8 percent), “the percentages with high confidence in reporting are at low points among all party groups.” Republicans’ 8 percent figure is the first time their level of trust in the media has dropped to single digits, according to the survey.
Gallup also flagged a stark divide among differing age groups when it comes to trust in legacy media. The poll found that while confidence in the press has declined across the board, a greater percentage of older Americans (65 and up) expressed having faith in media than younger Americans.
“Confidence in the mass media is historically low, with fewer than three in 10 Americans now placing trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news fully, fairly and accurately,” Gallup concluded. “With confidence fractured along partisan and generational lines, the challenge for news organizations is not only to deliver fair and accurate reporting but also to regain credibility across an increasingly polarized and skeptical public.”
The findings are damning for so-called legacy “journalists” and “reporters” who have spent year after year hyping the biggest misinformation campaigns in modern U.S. history. For all their supposed concern about “disinformation,” these supposed professionals have partaken in pushing the Russia collusion hoax; the Kavanaugh gang-rape hoax, the “very fine people” hoax; the “suckers and losers” hoax; the Hunter Biden laptop hoax; and so much more within the past few years alone.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood