A new poll asking Americans whether they trust each of the major
television news operations in the country finds that the only one getting a positive review
is Fox News. CNN does next best followed by NBC News, then CBS News, and finally
ABC News.
49% of Americans say they trust Fox News to 37% who disagree. Predictably there is a
large party split on this with 74% of Republicans but only 30% of Democrats saying they
trust the right leaning network.
CNN does next best because it is the second most trusted of Democrats, Republicans, and
independents. 39% say they trust it compared to 41% who do not, with 59% of
Democrats, 33% of independents and 23% of Republicans saying it carries credibility
with them.
The major networks all have the majority trust of Democrats but less than 20% from
Republicans. NBC, perhaps because of the ideological bent of MSNBC, does the best
among Democrats at 62%. Overall 35% of voters trust it to 44% who do not. CBS does
the worst among Republicans, with 69% distrusting it. A plurality of independents
express distrust of all five outlets we tested.
“A generation ago you would have expected Americans to place their trust in the most
neutral and unbiased conveyors of news,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy
Polling. “But the media landscape has really changed and now they’re turning more
toward the outlets that tell them what they want to hear.”
Teabag TV is the most trusted name in news? That's the way it is?
