Over Half of Americans Say They Tend Not to Trust the Press

During this political primary season, the media, especially cable news networks, have seen a large increase in viewers, listeners and/or readers. But, with all this do people actually trust the media? The answer is not really. Looking at the press in general, over half (54%) of Americans say they tend not to trust them, with only 30 percent tending to trust the press. Just under half (46%) of Americans say they do not trust television, while one-third (36%) do trust them. Somewhat surprisingly, Internet news and information sites do slightly better as a plurality of Americans (41%) trust them while just one-third (34%) tend not to trust them. And, radio tends to do best among Americans as 44 percent say they tend to trust it and one-third (32%) tend not to trust radio.

These are some of the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 2,302 U.S. adults surveyed online between January 15 and 22, 2008 by Harris Interactive^®.

Overall, Democrats are more likely to trust the media than Republicans, even with regard to radio. Just over half of Democrats (51%) trust radio compared to 45 percent of Republicans, and 45 percent of Democrats tend to trust Internet news and information sites compared to 40 percent of Republicans. The largest differences are for television and the press. Half of Democrats (50%) say they tend to trust television compared to three in ten (31%) Republicans. When it comes to the press in general, a plurality of Democrats (43%) say they tend to trust them, but only one in five (19%) of Republicans say the same.

In this election year, people are turning to various sources to get their news on politics – whether on candidates or on issues. When Americans are looking for political news, seven in ten (70%) of them turn to their local television news all the time or occasionally, followed by two-thirds (66%) who turn to cable television news stations like CNN, MSNBC or FOX all the time or occasionally. Two-thirds (65%) also go to their local newspapers for news on politics all the time or occasionally, while 64 percent turn to the network television news.

While the media has spent a great deal of effort enhancing their various websites, these are not where people are turning. One-third (32%) of Americans say they never go to the websites for national newspapers for political news while three in ten (30%) say they never go to the websites for the cable news stations when looking for political news. Looking at some other media, just over one-quarter (28%) say they turn to national newspapers such as The New York Times or USA Today for political news all the time or occasionally while the same number say they turn to weekly news magazines such as Newsweek or Time.

One’s generation does impact where one goes for political news. The oldest generations, Matures (those aged 63 and older) are much more likely to turn to their local television news all the time or occasionally (83%) while Baby Boomers (those aged 44-62) are more likely to turn to cable television news (74%), local newspapers (74%) and network television news (73%). While one may expect the younger generations to be more likely to go to the websites of the various media, this is not the case. Baby Boomers are actually the generation most likely to use websites for national newspapers (40%) and the cable television networks (40%) all the time or occasionally.

There are also some partisan differences in where people go for political news, although not as many as one might think. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to turn to Cable television networks (76% versus 66%). Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely to turn to national newspapers (33% versus 22%) and weekly news magazines (37% versus 19%).

This political year is one of firsts – first female candidate and first African American candidate to have a chance at the White House. Both of these have definitely increased interest in political news. While the Internet is the source of many a political story, it is not where Americans are going for their political news…at least not yet. When we get to the 2012 presidential race, the shape of the media will most likely be very, very different and the Internet may have become the top source for political news.

"For each of the following institutions, please tell us if you tend to trust or not to trust it."

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"For each of the following institutions, please tell us if you tend to trust or not to trust it."

Base: All adults

"Thinking now of when you are looking for news on politics, whether about candidates or issues, how often do you go to each of these news sources?"

Base: All adults

"Thinking now of when you are looking for news on politics, whether about candidates or issues, how often do you go to each of these news sources?"

Base: All adults

This Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States January 15 and 22, 2008, among 2,302 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

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