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Gallup survey finds Democrats are losing faith in journalists

Updated Jan 21, 2024, 7:45pm EST
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Democrats are losing faith in journalists, a new survey from Gallup found. As of last year, just 34% of Democrats reported viewing journalists’ as having “high” or “very high” honesty and ethical standards; that number has been on a steady decline since its peak of 54% in 2018.

Overall, faith in journalists in the U.S. is at an all-time low, with fewer than one in five Americans now viewing journalists’ as having “high” or “very high” honesty and ethical standards.

To be sure, Republicans’ faith in reporters has moved in the opposite direction — edging up to 8% last year from from 5% in 2020 — but is still down from its peak of 19% in 2015. Independents’ faith also waned from their 2018 peak of 31% to just 17% in 2023.

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In a separate survey, Gallup found that Democrats “confidence in mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly,” is also down. While they rate journalists more highly than Republicans, that gap is narrowing. Democrats’ trust fell to 58% from 70% in 2022, compared to 11% among Republicans and 29% among independents. Overall Americans’ confidence in mass media is at its lowest point since 2016.

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