Only 32% of Americans have “quite a bit” or “a great deal” of confidence that news organizations will accurately report the upcoming midterm election results, according to a national survey by the Medill Local News Initiative and the Alliance for Trust in Media. About six in 10 respondents said they had at least some confidence, while 37% reported not much confidence or none at all.
The survey was conducted online or by telephone earlier this month with a nationally representative sample of 1,057 U.S. adults. Its results are similar to other national findings, including a Gallup survey in which 33% said they trusted the media to report fully, accurately and fairly. That figure was up from an all-time low the previous year.
Confidence was also limited on coverage of voter fraud claims: about half of respondents said they had little or no confidence that news organizations would investigate those claims thoroughly.
The poll found that slightly more respondents said journalists manipulate news for political or commercial purposes than said they report it accurately. Views differed sharply by party: nearly 80% of Republicans said journalists try to manipulate the news, compared with 38% of independents and 24% of Democrats. Democrats were also more likely than Republicans to express confidence in and trust of news organizations.
The survey was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.
Sources: Nieman Lab.