People Have Lost All Confidence in the News Media
Much of the blame can be put on the cable news networks. Just a very tiny amount of Americans now have trust in the news media.
A new study shows that just 6 percent of people say they have a lot of confidence in the media.
How bad is it?
The lowly 6% puts the news media on par with the people's trust in Congress.
Ouch!
Trust in the news media is being eroded by perceptions of inaccuracy and bias (thank you cable news), fueled in part by Americans' skepticism about what they read on social media.
In this presidential campaign year, Democrats were more likely to trust the news media than Republicans or independents.
The poll shows that accuracy clearly is the most important component of trust.
Nearly 90 percent of Americans say it's extremely or very important that the media get their facts correct, according to the study. About 4 in 10 say they can remember a specific incident that eroded their confidence in the media, most often one that dealt with accuracy or a perception that it was one-sided.