There was a time in fairly recent history that Americans trusted the news. Back in the days of Walter Cronkite, when the news came on a 6:00 p.m. and it seemed that only parents watched it. In fact, at one time Walter Cronkite was the most trusted man in America. We also trusted our newspapers back then, when Americans actually read real newspapers. At some point, that trust started to erode, and now our trust in the news media and in other American institutions is at a new low.
A new Gallup Poll was just released, that shows that “Americans are less confident in major U.S. institutions than they were a year ago, with significant declines for 11 of the 16 institutions tested and no improvements for any.” Not surprisingly, we’ve lost the most trust in the Supreme Court and the Presidency.
The poll shows that Americans have the least trust in Congress, with the second least trust being in television news.
Here’s an excellent point: There’s “[a]lmost zero self-critique from journalists about why.”
Rasmussen Reports tweeted this: “Per Gallup. Voters are not stupid. They know it is no longer “news.” And they hate legacy media lying. Trust in news collapses to historic low[.]”
Gallup broke its poll down by party as well, saying, “[a]ll partisan groups are generally less confident in the 16 U.S. institutions than they were a year ago, with average declines of four points among Republicans, five points among Democrats, and six points among independents.” Gallup also noted that Democrats and Republicans currently feel similarly about the trustworthiness of the Presidency.
They also noted that more Democrats and Independents have lost confidence in the Supreme Court than have Republicans. Republicans, however, have lost more confidence in banks, the military, and the police. “Small business and the military are the two institutions rated most positively by each of the three-party groups, while Congress is essentially tied for the lowest among all three.”
Even for those who aren’t Trump supporters, one thing we all can agree on is that he brought to the forefront just how “fake” the news is anymore. Even some Democrats have figured it out, although there are still too many that think what they’re being fed is real news. Does this Gallup Poll comport with how you feel about our American institutions?
