The media has always been one of the least trusted institutions in America, which shouldn't come as a shock to anyone. It's not merely the bias, though that certainly is a factor, but also now the complicity with their Democratic allies, especially when it comes to the cover-up for former President Joe Biden, from his cognitive decline to his attempts to run for reelection before his fellow Democrats stepped in. There's also a serious lack of awareness. And yet, trust in the media has managed to get even lower, reaching a particular low not seen in decades.
Perhaps the best case in point for Trump's two terms, especially recently, has been CNN's Brian Stelter. As he wondered, "What happens when irresponsible media personalities hype a conspiracy theory, only to see it unravel before their eyes?"
Such a post has earned over 1,000 replies.
What happens when irresponsible media personalities hype a conspiracy theory, only to see it unravel before their eyes?
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 28, 2025
We're finding out right now...
The night before Stelter put out his post, Gallup released their insights on trust in American institutions, including mass media.
Gallup has been polling Americans' trust of the mass media since 1972, when 68 percent said they had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of "trust and confidence" for the media "reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly." In 2024, that number was at its lowest, of 31 percent. The only other time such a lack of trust came close was in 2016, when 32 percent said so, another year when President Donald Trump ran and won.
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Also in 2024, 33 percent said they had "not very much" trust in the media, and 36 percent said they had "none at all."
Republicans' lack of trust in media has surged in the Trump era, with 59% saying they have no confidence at all in the mass media. pic.twitter.com/4UKN3KzMp6
— Gallup (@Gallup) February 27, 2025
As the insights reveal, it's due to Republicans' mistrust in media. Can you really blame them, given how much Trump and Republicans in general are so demonized? It's actually how we got Trump. The 2012 Republican nominee for president was the milquetoast Mitt Romney, who was also demonized by the press. Once Trump came into office, though, especially when he and Romney were at odds, Romney became something of a savior to RINOs, Democrats, and their allies in the mainstream media.
Those insights do fittingly mention Trump:
Whereas about a third of U.S. adults say they have no trust at all in the mass media, 59% of Republicans hold this view -- a view that saw a particularly sharp increase between 2015 and 2017, when it rose 21 percentage points to 48%. Republicans’ lack of trust in the media topped 50% for the first time in 2020 and has since remained at the majority level. Lack of trust is also up sharply among independents, now 42%, while it continues to be low -- 6% this year -- among Democrats.
There's also a mention of how Democrats have such a shocking high trust in the media, with just 6 percent saying they have "none at all." Again, this isn't shocking, given how much the press does their bidding.
The insights go on to reveal that a majority of Democrats, at 54 percent, even have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust in the media.
It's not merely Republicans, but also young people who don't trust the media, with the insights further warning that "Generational patterns don’t bode well for media trust in the future." This time, it's trust amongst Democrats that is relevant:
Over the past 24 years, Democrats of all ages have generally expressed more trust in the mass media than Republicans of all ages, particularly in recent years. However, two trends among Democrats suggest that trust in the media could decrease further in the future, unless Republican trust rebounds.
- Democrats’ trust in the mass media has been lower in the past three years among all Democratic age groups than it was for those same groups between 2019 and 2021.
- As Democrats’ trust has fallen over the past three years, it has dropped more among younger than older Democrats. As a result, the Democratic age gap is now its widest, with less than a third of 18- to 29-year-old Democrats expressing a great deal or fair amount of trust versus 75% of Democrats aged 65+.
Among those institutions that Gallup has surveyed Americans' trust on, only Congress fares worse, which the insights also made note of. Just 9 percent said they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in Congress, while 60 percent have "very little" or "none at all," for a net confidence of -51. Just 12 percent say they have have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in television news, while 56 percent have "very little" or "none at all," for a -44 net confidence, not far behind from Congress. The numbers aren't great for newspapers, either. Just 18 percent have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence, while 48 percent say they have "very little" or "none at all," for a net confidence of -30.
And to think, Congress' numbers have actually gone up, as Gallup pointed out last week, though again, the trust in media isn't only catastrophic, but could keep falling, especially when it comes to the lack of confidence that young people have.
As Townhall has been covering all throughout this week, the media has certainly been a relevant topic, given the Trump's White House announcement on the press pool, leading to a freakout from the White House Correspondents' Association and other legacy media journalists. The New York Times' Peter Baker even referenced comparisons to Putin's Russia as a result.
