Distrust of media may feed doubts on election

In looking for reasons behind the misinformation that is casting doubt about last week’s election of Joe Biden, some researchers are drawing a link to the growing distrust of the news media among conservatives.

Research from Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has found a steady decline in trust in traditional media among more conservative Americans. In its place, they are increasingly relying on right-wing media outlets like Breitbart News and One America News and conservative pundits with a history of spreading falsehoods.

From 2015 to 2020, trust in media fell from 25% to 13% among conservativeleaning respondents, according to the institute’s annual poll on news habits. Among left-leaning respondents, trust grew slightly, to 39% from 35%, according to the latest results, which were published in June.

The declining trust in news has been years in the making and coincides with rising use of social media as a main source of information. In 2020, social media was a source of news for 48% of the public, up from 27% in 2013, according to the Reuters Institute.

The divide has created an environment where even basic facts are not agreed upon, making it easier for President Donald Trump and others to spread falsehoods about the election results, said Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, director of the institute. He said right-wing media outlets did not have the same fact-checking rigor and instead served as an echo chamber, helping nurture the belief that the election was rigged despite a lack of credible evidence.

This week, Politico published a poll finding that 70% of Republicans do not believe the election was free and fair.

“People on the right have lost faith in the news media,” Nielsen said.