The public’s distrust of the news media continues, though it is far more pronounced among Republicans than it is among Democrats, according to a new poll.
Almost two-thirds of likely U.S. voters — 63% — believe most major news organizations in America have their own political agenda according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey, which found that only 27% of the respondents felt these large-scale news operations are impartial.
“Democrats (42%), however, are far less likely than Republicans (87%) and voters not affiliated with either major party (63%) to believe most news organizations are politically biased,” the poll analysis said.
Another 58% of voters agree that the public still pines for news that is accurate, fair and balanced — and that “once-great journalistic institutions” have violated their traditional standards.
There’s a revealing partisan divide: 79% of Republicans, 55% of independents and 42% of Democrats also say news consumers want a quality product and believe the news organizations have dropped their standards.
Meanwhile, just 30% of voters trust the political news they’re getting, while 44% believe most reporters are trying to block President Trump’s agenda. By contrast, 48% thought most reporters were trying to help President Obama pass his agenda in 2010, according to a similar poll conducted that year. Even then, two- thirds of the respondents were “angry” at the media.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted July 15-16; The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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