Survey finds confusion among public about pandemic news
NEW YORK — For a story that has dominated the news during the past four months, a survey out Monday illustrates the difficulty many Americans have in finding information they can believe about the coronavirus pandemic.
Three in 10 Americans say they trust President Donald Trump and his administration to get the facts straight all or most of the time when talking about COVID-19, the Pew Research Center said.
“I can’t think of any precedent for that,” said Dan Fagin, director of New York University’s science, health and environmental reporter program, and a former reporter. “There’s a reason why that number is so low. Honestly, what disturbs even more is that there is 30% of the public who think they can believe the president on this.”
The president and other leaders were criticized initially for not taking the threat seriously, for delivering misinformation about potential treatments and, even today, delivering mixed messages on the need for masks and social distancing.
The Pew survey found dramatic differences in how the public assessed key sources of information on coronavirus, said Amy Mitchell, Pew’s director of journalism research.
A little more than half of those surveyed (53%) trusted the accuracy of information they were getting from governors or state leaders, with 44% believing the news media.
Trust numbers were higher for local media sources, Pew said.
Nearly 2 of 3 Americans said they had confidence in the information they were getting from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations.
“What is encouraging is that people do have great faith in public health experts,” Fagin said. “That’s why Anthony Fauci’s role is so important and that it’s a great blessing that he’s been involved in all of this.”
David Ropeik, a retired Harvard University professor and author of “How Risky Is It, Anyway? Why our Fears Don’t Always Match the Facts,” said social media has muddied the waters with misinformation.
That’s illustrated by Pew’s finding that 71% of Americans had heard the conspiracy theory that the virus outbreak had been intentionally planned, and that 36% said that is probably or definitely true.
More Republicans increasingly believe the coronavirus is overblown, said Pew, which conducted an online survey between June 4-10 of 9,654 people in a panel of adults selected randomly.