A poll released Monday by Monmouth University found that nearly seventy-seven percent of Americans distrust traditional major American media outlets and believe that the blame is based on editorial decisions as well as inaccurate reporting.
Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, noted, “These findings are troubling, no matter how you define ‘fake news.’ Confidence in an independent fourth estate is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Ours appears to be headed for the intensive care unit.”
The polling results found that “more than 3-in-4 Americans believe that traditional major TV and newspaper media outlets report ‘fake news,’ including 31% who believe this happens regularly and 46% who say it happens occasionally. The 77% who believe fake news reporting happens at least occasionally has increased significantly from 63% of the public who felt that way last year.”
People surveyed for the poll felt that social media platforms are partly to blame for the spread of fake news and are not doing enough to stop it. But the poll also finds that President Donald Trump continues to be less trusted than the major cable news outlets as an information source.
Researchers also discovered that only 25% of Americans denote that the label “fake news” applies only to stories where the facts are wrong. A majority (65%) however claim that the label “fake news” also applies to how media outlets make editorial decisions about what their choices in stories to report on.
This was coupled with findings that “the belief that major media outlets disseminate fake news at least occasionally has increased among every partisan group over the past year, including Republicans (89% up from 79% in 2017), independents (82% up from 66%), and Democrats (61% up from 43%).
The poll also revealed that nearly 83% of Americans believe outside groups or agents are actively trying to plant fake stories in the mainstream media. Two-thirds (66%) say this is a serious problem – including 74% of Republicans, 68% of independents, and 59% of Democrats.
“According to the public, fake news is the result of both outside agents trying to plant fabricated stories and the editorial processes of mainstream media outlets that disseminate false narratives. The perception of this problem couldn’t be more pervasive,” said Murray.
Image by Jeso Carneiro via Flickr and a CC license