US distrust in media hits new high

Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60 percent saying they have "little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly," a new survey showed here. According to a new Gallup survey, this distrust in the media "also means that negativity toward the media is at an all-time high for a presidential election year. It indicated that "trust in the media was much higher and more positive than negative, in the years prior to 2004." This year's decline in media trust is "driven by independents and Republicans." The survey showed that the 31 percent independents and 26 percent Republicans "who express a great deal or fair amount of trust are record lows and are down significantly from last year." Republicans' level of trust this year "is similar to what they expressed in the fall of 2008, implying that they are especially critical of election coverage." Independents are "sharply" more negative compared with 2008, suggesting the group that is most likely divided between U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney "is quite dissatisfied with its ability to get fair and accurate news coverage of this election." More broadly, Republicans continue to express the "least trust in the media, while Democrats express the most," whereas Independents' trust "fell below the majority level in 2004 and has continued to steadily decline." Gallup noted that this survey was conducted immediately after the conclusion of the Republican and Democratic conventions "and thus may indicate the level of attention paid to those events in particular." Since this survey was conducted, "Democrats' enthusiasm about voting has swelled nationally and in swing states."