Majority trust media to control politicians
President-elect Donald Trump is known to dislike the news media having called in the “enemy of the people”. Since he was re-elected various media organisations have stressed the importance of him respecting media freedom. The Pew Research Centre has now, probably not a coincidence, published a survey saying the a vast majority of US citizens trust that criticism from news media keeps political leaders from doing things they shouldn’t.
74% in a recent survey said criticism from news organisations keeps political leaders from doing things that shouldn’t be done, while far fewer (24%) said this type of scrutiny keeps leaders from doing their job.
The last time such a large share of Americans expressed the view that media criticism helps hold political leaders accountable was in 2016, just before Trump was elected the first time, the Pew report shows.
“In the new survey, 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say media criticism helps keep political leaders from doing things they shouldn’t. Two-thirds of Republicans and GOP leaners say the same.”
“In the past, however, partisan attitudes have changed notably following presidential elections.”
“Just after Trump’s election in 2016, for example, Republicans became much less likely to say criticism from news organisations keeps political leaders from acting inappropriately. A similar pattern appeared during President George W. Bush’s administration.”
The new survey also asked Americans whether they see the news media as generally fair to all sides when reporting on politics and social issues, or if they think the media tend to favor one side.
“In 2024, about three-quarters of US adults (77%) say news organisations tend to favour one side when presenting the news on political and social issues. Far fewer (22%) believe news organisations deal fairly with all sides.”
“In surveys going back almost 40 years, most Americans have viewed news coverage as biased toward one side. But the share of Americans who say so is near the highest it’s been since we first asked this question in 1985”, the Pew says.
Other recent studies have shown that rust in media is record-low while trust in information on social media is increasing.
For the third consecutive year, more US adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust it a great deal or fair amount. Another 33% have “not very much” confidence, a survey by Gallup shows.
An earlier Pew study shows that people under 30 are now nearly as likely to have a lot of or some trust in information from social media sites (52%) as from national news organisations (56%).
In his victory speech Donald Trump talked about the media as “the enemy camp”.
Media freedom organisations have now in statements shown they are worried about what will happen when Trump soon is in the oval office.
“His election to a second term in office marks a dangerous moment for American journalism and global press freedom”, says Reporters without borders (RSF).
The Committee to protect journalists (CPJ) says that “at this pivotal moment in US history, we urge the next administration and decision makers across government and business to recognise the free press and the factual information that journalists provide as an essential component of democracy, stability, and public safety.”
Moonshot News is an independent European news website for all IT, Media and Advertising professionals, powered by women and with a focus on driving the narrative for diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the industry.
Our mission is to provide top and unbiased information for all professionals and to make sure that women get their fair share of voice in the news and in the spotlight!
We produce original content, news articles, a curated calendar of industry events and a database of women IT, Media and Advertising associations.
