Poll: US news media trust falling

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=138760&sectionid=3510203


A new poll in the United States has shown that three-quarters of Americans do not trust the country's newspapers and television news.

The findings are from Gallup's annual Confidence in Institutions survey published on Friday, which has found that 75 percent of the respondents do not have confidence in newspapers, with 78 percent distrusting television news.

The Gallup surveyed 1,020 people on 16 US institutions and gave an error margin of four percentage points.

The dismal results showed that the American near-record low confidence in news media came ahead of Health Management Organizations and big business.

The survey found the military rated best and US Congress rated worst out of the 16 institutions tested.

Although no more than one-quarter of Americans trust the struggling news media, the greatest confidence in newspapers --49 percent-- ironically came from young people aged 18-29, which Gallup linked to the fact that young people tended to be more confident in institutions in general.

There is a dramatic decline in confidence, however, as Americans get older with only 19 percent of people aged 30-49 trusting newspapers.

Experts say the US media are not gaining new fans as Americans continue to express low confidence in line with a steady slide over the past two decades.