Confidence in the media has hit rock bottom, with many news consumers believing that reporters file their reports before knowing the facts and 60 percent are under the impression that sources pay for stories, according to a depressing new survey of American journalism.
The Columbia Journalism Review poll also confirmed the pending death of print newspapers and magazines and a remarkable shift to social and online media as sources of news.
The survey, done in partnership with Reuters/Ipsos, interviewed 4,214 adults and found that the media is last on a list of all of Washington’s institutions that the public has confidence in, even under Congress.
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CJR did not write up a report or analysis beyond an introduction on the “trust gap” it found. They wrote, “For decades, we’ve known that Americans don’t trust the press. What we haven’t known is how people view the makings of journalism, from the use of fact checkers and anonymous sources to the question of whether money skews journalistic decision-making. This new national poll for CJR answers those questions, and points to how big the trust gap remains.”
Instead of words, it showed the grim news in graphics.
In those graphics, it revealed the problem journalism faces. Some key findings:
- The press led institutions for which the public has the lowest confidence.
- Of all demographic groups, only Democrats expressed a positive confidence in the press.
- 40 percent get their news from TV.
- 40 percent get their news from online and social media sources.
- 6 percent get their news from newspapers and magazines.
- 60 percent believe that sources pay reporters.
- 41 percent are unlikely to believe stories filled with anonymous sources.
- 42 percent of Democrats believe the media isn’t biased. Just 10 percent of Republicans said the same.
