POLL: One-Third Of Americans Don’t Trust The Media

Around one-third of Americans don’t trust that the media’s reporting is based on factual information, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and USAFacts.

The poll, released Nov. 20,  asked Americans “how often” they think each of the questions asked “are based on factual information.” It found that about two in 10 – or less – Americans trust that the media’s reporting is based on facts. Only 21% of Americans always or often trust the media and 47% sometimes have that trust. 31% said that they rarely or never believe that media reports based on facts, the poll found.

This distrust was even bigger when Americans were asked if they believe that the decisions made by policy makers are fact-based. The poll found that 55% of those polled only sometimes believe in their lawmakers decisions, and only 14% always or often trust them.

The trend of skepticism continued throughout the questions, with many Americans expressing doubt about whether their fellow Americans vote based on facts. Americans also doubted whether political candidates’ campaign messages are fact-based and if debates between candidates are legitimate, according to the poll. Only 9% always or often trusted in politicians’ campaign messages.

On a related note, A recent Gallup poll revealed the pharmaceutical industry is the most despised industry in America. The pharmaceutical industry is now the most poorly regarded industry in Americans’ eyes, ranking last on a list of 25 industries that Gallup tests annually. Americans are more than twice as likely to rate the pharmaceutical industry negatively

The pharmaceutical industry has unseated the federal government as the lowest-rated industry this year, in terms of its net-positive score; the government has been last or tied for last from 2011 through 2018.