A new survey reveals that most Americans have little confidence in the news media’s ability to cover President Trump fairly and accurately.
The YouGov poll, released Friday, found that 67% of respondents said they have “not very much” or no trust at all that news outlets will report facts fairly, accurately, and fully during Trump’s second term. About 24% expressed a “fair amount” of confidence, while only 4% said they have a “great deal” of trust in the media’s coverage of the president, The Hill reported, citing the survey’s results.
An additional 5 percent of respondents didn’t have an opinion, according to the survey.
On the other hand, a significant portion of respondents—44%—expressed at least a “fair amount” of confidence in the Trump administration to present facts fairly and accurately, surpassing trust in the news media, which has been in decline for some time, according to the poll.
However, just over half of respondents (51%) said they did not have much confidence in the administration’s ability to relay information with accuracy and fairness, while 5% remained unsure, the data shows.
The survey also found that Republican voters (35%) are far more likely than Democrats (13%) to say they have zero trust in the news media.
The poll also found that a quarter of Americans believe news organizations’ coverage of Trump’s second term has been fair. However, a larger share—35%—felt the coverage has been “too negative.” Meanwhile, 23% argued it has been “too positive,” reflecting an increase from 2017 when that number stood at 14%, according to the pollsters, The Hill added.
A significant portion of Democrats (42%) believe the coverage has been too positive, while nearly two-thirds of Republicans (63%) feel it has been too negative, according to the poll.
A majority of Americans (59%) believe the media’s coverage of Trump and his administration should be “neutral,” but only 16% think news outlets are succeeding in that effort. About 22% said news organizations should want the president to “succeed” over the next four years, while 10% said they should want him to fail, and 9% were unsure.
Following Trump’s 2016 election victory, 26% of respondents—including 42% of Democrats and 9% of Republicans—believed the media was neutral in its coverage of him, according to the survey.
Trump has long been critical of the media’s portrayal of him, a contentious relationship that dates back to his 2016 presidential campaign. The tension has continued into his current term, with the president recently accusing The Associated Press (AP), public broadcaster PBS, and CBS News of unfair treatment while labeling liberal network MSNBC as “the enemy.”
The president has also threatened to use the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revoke the broadcast licenses of NBC and ABC.
Additionally, he barred The Associated Press (AP) from accessing the Oval Office and Air Force One after the news agency refused to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” in its stylebook. In response, AP filed a lawsuit against three White House officials on Friday, claiming their First Amendment rights were violated, The Hill added.
“The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom,” the AP said in the lawsuit assigned to U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was appointed by Trump.
Meanwhile, MSNBC liberal mainstay Joy Reid’s show has been canceled as part of a major shake-up under the network’s new president, Rebecca Kutler, according to a report.
Reid’s 7 p.m. program, long known for its sharp criticism of Trump, will be replaced by a new panel show featuring co-hosts Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele, and Symone Sanders Townsend, The New York Times reported, citing network insiders.
The final episode of The ReidOut is set to air this week, marking the end of its five-year run as a staple of MSNBC’s primetime lineup, according to the report.
It represents the first significant overhaul by MSNBC’s new president since taking charge of the liberal network earlier this month, the New York Post reported.