Journalists more trustworthy than “most people?” Perhaps

Maybe things aren’t so bad for media companies after all. Earlier this week, I wrote about the eroding trust consumers have in news media, both generally and for specific news brands. In that post, I cited a September poll from Gallup News Service found that Americans’ “trust and confidence” in mass media – newspapers, television, and radio — in “reporting news fully, accurately, and fairly” is just 44 percent. The percentage has hovered in the mid-40s for most of the last decade, dropping from an all-time high of 72 percent in 1976 to the mid- to low-50s in the 90s.

That’s sobering news if you are a journalist trading on credibility. In context, though, 44 percent starts to look pretty good.

A new poll released this week by by AP-GfK makes it clear that it’s not just news organizations that American’s distrust; it’s everyone.

Read the full post on Bubble & Blender

Chris Shipley  
 
Residential fellow

Chris Shipley is a technology industry journalist, analyst, and entrepreneur. She was a 2013-2014 RJI Fellow.