The bias consumers see in the media is “getting worse,” and even those who believe their outlets — namely Democrats focused on anti-Trump stories — are overwhelmingly concerned about “fake news.”
In the latest poll condemning today’s political press, Rasmussen Reports said that 62% of likely voters believe media bias is getting worse, and even more, 82%, believe “fake news” is a growing problem.
The survey confirmed a decadeslong turn against the media, especially by partisans, from the days when people felt comforted by Walter Cronkite’s nightly sign-off: “And that’s the way it is.”
Over four questions, Rasmussen found broad distrust of the media. On the most basic question, “Do you trust the political news you are getting?” just 32% said yes, 52% said no, and another 16% were undecided.
Republicans and conservatives were consistent anti-media votes in the survey, and 67% said they don’t trust the political news they see. However, some 55% of Democrats do trust what they read about Washington, President Joe Biden, and Congress.
That was especially true of stories about the FBI’s raid of former President Donald Trump’s winter home at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Among Republicans, 70% said they don’t trust the media’s reporting on the search, while 68% of Democrats said they do. Most of the reporting has had an anti-Trump spin.
The poll analysis highlighted the partisan division over the raid coverage. “President Joe Biden’s strongest supporters have the most confidence in the media’s reporting about the FBI raid on Trump. Among voters who ‘Strongly Approve’ of Biden’s job performance as president, 88% trust what the media are reporting about the raid. By contrast, among those who ‘Strongly Disapprove’ of Biden’s performance, 80% don’t trust what the news media are reporting about the FBI raid,” it said.
But both sides see a big issue in “fake news,” a phrase coined by Trump.
According to Rasmussen, 90% of Republicans said fake news is a problem, and 78% of Democrats agree.
