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Gallup Poll: Media Confidence in U.S. Matches 2016 Record Low (2023)
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High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
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Relevant as background context for AI safety discussions about public trust in information sources, misinformation, and the societal conditions under which AI-generated or AI-assisted media may further erode institutional credibility.
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Importance: 28/100news articledataset
Summary
A 2023 Gallup poll found only 32% of Americans trust mass media to report news fully, fairly, and accurately, matching the 2016 record low. A record-high 39% report having no confidence in media whatsoever, up 12 points since 2016. Democrats' trust fell 12 points in a single year, narrowing the partisan gap to its smallest since 2016.
Key Points
- •Only 32% of Americans have 'a great deal' or 'fair amount' of trust in media, tying the all-time Gallup low set in 2016.
- •Record-high 39% have 'no confidence at all' in media, up from 27% in 2016 and 12 points higher than any prior reading.
- •Democrats' media trust dropped 12 points in one year to 58%, while Republicans sit at 11% and independents at 29%.
- •Trust in media has declined dramatically from 68-72% in the 1970s and has not exceeded 47% since 2005.
- •This is only the second time in Gallup's trend that those with zero media confidence outnumber those with at least fair trust.
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Media Confidence in U.S. Matches 2016 Record Low
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Media Confidence in U.S. Matches 2016 Record Low
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Story Highlights
32% have a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in media’s news reporting
New high of 39% have no confidence at all, compared with 27% in 2016
Democrats’ trust is down 12 points since last year; lowest since 2016
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news in a full, fair and accurate way ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016 . Although trust in media currently matches the historical low, it was statistically similar in 2021 (36%) and 2022 (34%).
Another 29% of U.S. adults have “not very much” trust, while a record-high 39% register “none at all.” This nearly four in 10 Americans who completely lack confidence in the media is the highest on record by one percentage point. It is 12 points higher than the 2016 reading, which came amid sharp criticism of the media from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump -- making the current assessment of the media the grimmest in Gallup’s history. In 2016, U.S. adults were most likely to say they had “not very much” trust (41%).
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The latest poll, conducted Sept. 1-23, marks just the second time, along with last year, that the share of Americans who have no confidence at all in the media has surpassed the percentage with a great deal or fair amount of trust.
Gallup first asked this question in 1972 and has tracked it nearly every year since 1997. Trust ranged from 68% to 72% in three readings in the 1970s, and though it had declined by the late 1990s, it remained at the majority level until 2004, when it fell to 44%. After rebounding slightly to 50% in 2005, it has not risen above 47% since.
Democrats’ Trust in Media Down, Lowest Since 2016
Democrats’ confidence in the mass media has consistently outpaced Republicans’, but the latest gap of 47 points is the narrowest since 2016. Democrats’ trust in the media has fallen 12 points over the past year, to 58%, and compares with 11% among Republicans and 29% among independents.
The gap in partisans’ media confidence was largest from 2017 through 2022. During that period, Democrats’ trust was above its trend average of 64%, while
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