Americans’ trust in the media is broken; here’s how to fix it

Americans’ trust in the national news media is low and getting worse. Mainstream journalism has lost the respect of much of the public, though soul-searching and changes by the industry could reverse this trend.

A new study by Media Insight Project funded by The Associated Press and the University of Chicago found bedrock journalism values are respected less by much of the general public than other competing moral values. For example, the study reported that “people who put more emphasis on authority and loyalty tend to be more skeptical about fundamental journalism principles.” A mere 11% of Americans fully support all five of the journalism values tested. The study advises journalists to rethink how they frame their content to better resonate with broader audiences.

This new study doesn’t surprise conservatives like me at all. A Gallup public opinion survey of Americans’ trust in institutions released near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic found eight of the nine institutions studied received a majority positive ratings — led by U.S. hospitals, with 88% approval. The media ranked dead last, and only the media received more negative than positive marks.

Tracking the nosedive in the media’s reputation, Gallup’s editor in chief Mohamed Younis told me that Gallup polling in the time of President Richard Nixon’s impeachment showed 70% of Americans had confidence in the honesty of the media, yet today, only 40% of Americans say the same. Gallup has tracked a general decline in trust, but the drop is most pronounced among Republicans. When we spoke, Younis said 41% of independents approve of the media’s work during the COVID-19 crisis, compared to 68% of Democrats