Study: Americans Think News Media Needed for Democracy, But Untrustworthy
2020-08-07
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1Many Americans describe the news media as "very biased," but they still believe the work of reporters is important to democracy.
2That is the finding of a report from the Knight Foundation, a not-for-profit group, and the research company Gallup.
3Knight and Gallup questioned more than 20,000 American adults between November 8, 2019 and February 16, 2020.
4That was before the United States began taking steps to fight the novel coronavirus.
5It was also before protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
6The study's findings - called "sobering" in the report - suggest that Americans increasingly distrust the news media.
7John Sands is director of learning and impact at the Knight Foundation.
8He said that when half of Americans have concerns about the news "it's going to be impossible for our democracy to function."
9The study confirmed sharp differences of opinion between supporters of the two major parties in the United States.
10For example, it found that 71 percent of Republican Party members had a "very" or "somewhat" unfavorable opinion of the news media.
11Fifty-two percent of independent voters and 22 percent of Democratic Party members also had unfavorable opinions.
12However, 54 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of the press.
13Only 13 percent of Republicans felt the same way.
14Sands said this finding is not new and added the differences between the two sides have become deeper over the years.
15"Moving the dial on these attitudes becomes more and more difficult for media organizations," he said.
16The study did not try to identify reasons for the differences in opinion about the news media.
17U.S. President Donald Trump often calls stories he does not like "fake news."
18Studies show that more than 90 percent of media reports on Trump and his administration are "negative" or appear hostile toward the president.
19Among those questioned in the study, 48 percent said the news media has a great deal of responsibility for the country's political divisions.
20Seventy-three percent believe that too much bias in news reporting is a major problem.
21That represents an increase of eight percent from two years ago.
22In addition, Americans did not believe that reporters make honest mistakes.
23Instead, 54 percent said they believed reporters misrepresented facts, while 28 percent said reporters made up some of their information.
24Knight and Gallup found that 41 percent of Americans have a great deal of trust in the ability of the media to report the news fairly.
25However, that is down from 55 percent in a similar study from 1999.
26A big majority of Americans, 84 percent, still believe that, in general, the news media is either "very important" or "critical" to democracy.
27I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
1Many Americans describe the news media as "very biased," but they still believe the work of reporters is important to democracy. 2That is the finding of a report from the Knight Foundation, a not-for-profit group, and the research company Gallup. 3Knight and Gallup questioned more than 20,000 American adults between November 8, 2019 and February 16, 2020. That was before the United States began taking steps to fight the novel coronavirus. It was also before protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police. 4The study's findings - called "sobering" in the report - suggest that Americans increasingly distrust the news media. 5John Sands is director of learning and impact at the Knight Foundation. He said that when half of Americans have concerns about the news "it's going to be impossible for our democracy to function." 6The study confirmed sharp differences of opinion between supporters of the two major parties in the United States. 7For example, it found that 71 percent of Republican Party members had a "very" or "somewhat" unfavorable opinion of the news media. Fifty-two percent of independent voters and 22 percent of Democratic Party members also had unfavorable opinions. 8However, 54 percent of Democrats had a favorable opinion of the press. Only 13 percent of Republicans felt the same way. 9Sands said this finding is not new and added the differences between the two sides have become deeper over the years. 10"Moving the dial on these attitudes becomes more and more difficult for media organizations," he said. 11The study did not try to identify reasons for the differences in opinion about the news media. U.S. President Donald Trump often calls stories he does not like "fake news." 12Studies show that more than 90 percent of media reports on Trump and his administration are "negative" or appear hostile toward the president. 13Who is to blame? 14Among those questioned in the study, 48 percent said the news media has a great deal of responsibility for the country's political divisions. Seventy-three percent believe that too much bias in news reporting is a major problem. That represents an increase of eight percent from two years ago. 15In addition, Americans did not believe that reporters make honest mistakes. Instead, 54 percent said they believed reporters misrepresented facts, while 28 percent said reporters made up some of their information. 16Knight and Gallup found that 41 percent of Americans have a great deal of trust in the ability of the media to report the news fairly. However, that is down from 55 percent in a similar study from 1999. 17A big majority of Americans, 84 percent, still believe that, in general, the news media is either "very important" or "critical" to democracy. 18I'm Mario Ritter Jr. 19Here are other findings of the report: 20David Bauder reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 21_______________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23biased - adj. showing one side as better than another side in an unfair way 24sobering - adj. causing seriousness or thoughtfulness 25function - v. to operate correctly 26unfavorable -adj. showing disapproval 27Move the dial -idiom to cause something to change in a way that can be seen or heard 28attitudes -n. (pl.) the way someone thinks about a subject in general 29fake - adj. a copy or reproduction; opposite of true or real 30critical -adj. extremely important 31Also follow us on Facebook.