Media Use and Evaluation

Line graph. Trust in news media to report news fully, accurately and fairly. 1972-2018 trend (high 72% great deal/fair amount of trust in 1976; currently 45%).

In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media such as newspapers, TV and radio -- when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly -- a great deal, a fair amount, not very much or none at all?

	Great deal	Fair amount	Not very much	None at all	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2018 Sep 4-12	14	31	30	24	*
2017 Sep 6-10	13	28	29	29	1
2016 Sep 7-11	8	24	41	27	*
2015 Sep 9-13	7	33	36	24	*
2014 Sep 4-7	10	30	36	24	*
2013 Sep 5-8	11	33	33	22	1
2012 Sep 6-9	8	32	39	21	1
2011 Sep 8-11	11	33	36	19	1
2010 Sep 13-16	12	31	36	21	*
2009 Aug 31-Sep 2	10	35	37	18	1
2008 Sep 8-11	9	34	35	21	1
2007 Sep 14-16	9	38	35	17	*
2005 Sep 12-15	13	37	37	12	1
2004 Sep 13-15	9	35	39	16	1
2003 Sep 8-10	14	40	35	11	*
2002 Sep 5-8	10	44	35	11	*
2001 Sep 7-10	12	41	33	14	*
2000 Jul 6-9	12	39	37	12	*
1999 Feb 4-8	11	44	34	11	*
1998 Dec 28-29	11	44	35	9	1
1997 May 30-Jun 1	10	43	31	15	1
1976 Jun	18	54	22	4	2
1974 Apr	21	48	21	8	2
1972 May	18	50	24	6	2
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Now I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one -- a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little?

	Great deal	Quite a lot	Some	Very little	None (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
Newspapers
2018 Jun 1-13	12	11	35	38	2	2
2017 Jun 7-11	11	16	33	33	4	2
2016 Jun 1-5	8	12	42	34	2	1
2015 Jun 2-7	10	14	41	31	3	2
2014 Jun 5-8	12	10	43	30	3	2
2013 Jun 1-4	9	14	40	32	4	2
2012 Jun 7-10	10	15	41	29	3	2
2011 Jun 9-12	12	16	40	28	3	2
2010 Jul 8-11	9	16	41	29	4	2
2009 Jun 14-17	10	15	43	27	4	1
2008 Jun 9-12	10	14	45	26	2	2
2007 Jun 11-14	8	14	48	26	2	1
2006 Jun 1-4	12	18	40	25	2	2
2005 May 23-26	11	17	46	24	1	1
2004 May 21-23	9	21	44	23	2	1
2003 Jun 9-10	11	22	49	16	1	1
2002 Jun 21-23	12	23	47	16	1	1
2001 Jun 8-10	13	23	44	16	3	1
2000 Jun 22-25	12	25	38	22	2	1
1999 Jun 25-27	12	21	44	21	1	1
1998 Jun 5-7	14	19	44	20	1	2
1997 Jul 25-27	15	20	43	21	1	*
1996 May 28-29	11	21	44	21	2	1
1995 Apr 21-24	12	18	44	24	1	1
1994 Mar 25-29	11	18	42	26	2	1
1993 Mar 22-24	12	19	42	22	3	2
1991 Oct 10-13	10	22	44	20	2	2
1991 Feb 28-Mar 3	14	23	43	17	2	1
1990 Aug 16-19	15	24	42	16	2	1
1988 Sep 23-26	9	27	46	15	2	1
1987 Jul 10-13	8	23	46	20	1	1
1986 Jul 11-14	9	28	42	19	1	1
1985 May 17-20	10	25	42	20	1	2
1984 Oct 6-10	10	24	41	23	--	2
1983 Aug 5-8	11	27	41	18	1	2
1981 Nov 20-23	10	25	42	18	4	1
1979 Apr 6-9	19	32	35	12	1	2
1973 May 4-7	15	24	39	14	4	3
Television news
2018 Jun 1-13	10	10	34	41	4	1
2017 Jun 7-11	11	13	31	39	5	1
2016 Jun 1-5	8	13	38	38	2	1
2015 Jun 2-7	10	11	37	36	5	1
2014 Jun 5-8	10	8	42	33	6	1
2013 Jun 1-4	11	12	38	36	3	1
2012 Jun 7-10	11	10	39	34	4	1
2011 Jun 9-12	13	14	40	28	4	1
2010 Jul 8-11	11	11	41	32	4	1
2009 Jun 14-17	10	13	41	31	4	1
2008 Jun 9-12	11	13	43	28	3	2
2007 Jun 11-14	10	13	40	33	3	1
2006 Jun 1-4	12	19	40	25	3	1
2005 May 23-26	12	16	45	24	2	1
2004 May 21-23	11	19	40	26	3	1
2003 Jun 9-10	16	19	47	16	1	1
2002 Jun 21-23	14	21	43	19	2	1
2001 Jun 8-10	14	20	43	19	3	1
2000 Jun 22-25	11	25	40	21	2	1
1999 Jun 25-27	14	20	41	24	1	*
1998 Jun 5-7	15	19	40	24	1	1
1997 Jul 25-27	14	20	42	20	3	1
1996 May 28-29	13	23	39	22	2	1
1995 Apr 21-24	13	20	41	23	2	1
1994 Mar 25-29	15	20	37	25	2	1
1993 Mar 22-24	19	27	36	16	2	*
News on the Internet
2017 Jun 7-11	7	9	33	42	5	4
2014 Jun 5-8	8	11	40	29	5	6
1999 Jun 25-27	8	13	35	22	3	19
* Less than 0.5%; (vol.) = Volunteered response
Gallup

In general, do you think -- [ROTATED: news organizations get the facts straight, (or do you think) news organizations' stories and reports are often inaccurate]?

	Facts straight	Often inaccurate	No opinion
	%	%	%
2017 Jul 5-9	38	60	2
2017 Mar 9-29 ^	36	55	10
2003 May 19-21	36	62	2
2003 Feb 17-19	39	58	3
2000 Dec 2-4	32	65	3
1998 Jul 13-14 #	50	45	5
1989 Aug 9-28 #	54	44	2
1988 Aug 24 #	40	50	10
1988 May 13 #	48	43	9
1988 Jan 8-17 #	44	48	8
1985 Aug 17 #	50	38	12
1985 Jun 22 #	55	34	11
^ Asked of a half sample; # Items not rotated
Gallup

Which comes closer to your opinion -- [ROTATED: that the news media generally favor one political party over the other, (or) that the news media generally favor neither political party]? And which political party do you think the news media generally favors -- [ROTATED: Republicans (or) Democrats]?

Combined responses based on national adults

	2017 Jul 5-9	2017 Mar 9-29 ^	2003 Feb 17-19	2000 Dec 2-4	1995 Apr 5-6 #

	%	%	%	%	%
Favor one party	63	62	48	51	47
(Favor Republicans)	(13)	(14)	(20)	(15)	(17)
(Favor Democrats)	(43)	(40)	(23)	(29)	(25)
(Favor both)	(5)	(4)	(3)	(4)	(2)
(Unspecified)	(3)	(4)	(2)	(3)	(3)
Favor neither	29	27	46	41	48
No opinion	7	10	6	8	5
^ Asked of a half sample; # Items not rotated
Gallup

In its coverage of [...] and his administration so far, do you think the news media has been too tough, about right or not tough enough?

	Too tough	About right	Not tough enough	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
Donald Trump
2017 Jul 5-9	35	28	34	3
2017 Mar 9-29	32	24	37	6
2017 Jan 30-31 ^	36	31	28	5
Barack Obama
2009 Jan 30-Feb 1	11	48	38	3
^ Asked on Gallup Daily tracking survey
Gallup

In the disputes between President Trump and the news media, in general, do you -- [ROTATED: strongly side with Trump, lean toward Trump, side with neither Trump nor the media, lean toward the media (or) strongly side with the media]?

	Trump, strongly	Lean Trump	Neither side	Lean media	Media, strongly	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%	%
2017 Jul 5-9	17	15	29	21	15	2
2017 Mar 9-29 ^	13	20	28	20	17	3
^ Asked of a half sample
Gallup

Thinking about various sources of news available today, what would you say is your main source of news about current events in the U.S. and around the world? [OPEN-ENDED]

	2016 Jun 14-23	2013 Jun 20-24
	%	%
Television/TV news (nonspecific)	22	26
Internet/Computer/Online (nonspecific)	16	18
FOX	9	8
CNN	8	7
Facebook/Twitter/Social media	6	2
Newspaper (nonspecific)	5	6
Other specific internet site	4	1
Radio	2	4
NPR	2	1
Local TV news	2	4
MSNBC	2	1
New York Times	1	1
NBC	1	1
News/Evening news (nonspecific)	1	2
Word of mouth	1	2
Talk radio	1	1
Other specific newspaper	1	1
BBC	1	1
Cable news (nonspecific)	1	1
CBS	1	*
ABC	1	1
PBS	1	1
Wall Street Journal	1	1
Univision	*	1
CNBC	*	*
Media (nonspecific)	--	1
Other specific television program/channel	--	1
Other specific cable channel/program	--	1
Other	3	2
None/Don't follow the news	--	1
No opinion	4	3
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

In general, do you think the news media are -- [ROTATED: too liberal, just about right or too conservative]?

	Too liberal	Just about right	Too conservative	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2014 Sep 4-7	44	34	19	3
2013 Sep 5-8	46	37	13	5
2011 Sep 8-11	47	36	13	4
2010 Sep 13-16	48	33	15	4
2009 Aug 31-Sep 2	45	35	15	5
2008 Sep 8-11	47	36	13	5
2007 Sep 14-16 ^	45	35	18	2
2006 Sep 7-10	44	33	19	4
2005 Sep 12-15	46	37	16	1
2004 Sep 13-15	48	33	15	4
2003 Sep 8-10	45	39	14	2
2003 Feb 17-19	45	36	15	4
2002 Sep 5-8	47	37	13	3
2001 Sep 7-10	45	40	11	4
^ Asked of a half sample
Gallup

As you may know, the information about the government program was leaked to The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers by a former U.S. government contractor. Do you think it was right or wrong for the newspapers to publish that information?

	Right	Wrong	No opinion
	%	%	%
2013 Jun 10-11 ^	59	33	8
^ Asked of a half sample
Gallup

As you may know, a former U.S. government contractor named Edward Snowden has claimed to be the source of the information about the government program reported in The Guardian and Washington Post newspapers. Do you think it was right or wrong for him to share that information?

	Right	Wrong	No opinion
	%	%	%
2013 Jun 10-11 ^	44	42	14
^ Asked of a half sample
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Local newspapers in your area?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	40	13	27	20	*
2006 Dec 11-14	44	13	28	14	*
2004 Dec 5-8	44	14	27	15	*
2002 Dec 5-8	47	13	26	14	*
1999 Jul 22-25	54	14	21	10	1
1998 Jul 13-14	53	15	22	10	--
1998 Mar 6-9 ^	50	12	26	11	1
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- National newspapers such as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and USA Today?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	9	6	24	60	*
2006 Dec 11-14	7	6	23	62	*
2004 Dec 5-8	7	4	27	62	*
2002 Dec 5-8	11	5	26	58	--
1999 Jul 22-25	9	7	30	54	*
1998 Jul 13-14	4	11	26	59	--
1998 Mar 6-9 ^	8	6	28	57	1
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Nightly network news programs on ABC, CBS or NBC?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	34	14	28	23	*
2006 Dec 11-14	35	16	30	19	--
2006 Apr 7-9	45	19	21	15	*
2004 Dec 5-8	36	16	26	22	*
2002 Dec 5-8	43	16	25	15	1
1999 Jul 22-25	52	18	22	8	--
1998 Jul 13-14	55	19	19	7	*
1998 Mar 6-9	56	19	17	7	1
1995 Aug 11-14	62	20	15	3	*
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Morning news and interview programs on the national TV networks?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	29	10	26	35	*
2006 Dec 11-14	28	11	26	35	*
2006 Apr 7-9	29	11	26	33	1
2004 Dec 5-8	27	12	25	36	*
2002 Dec 5-8	29	10	26	34	1
1999 Jul 22-25	32	11	29	28	*
1998 Jul 13-14	25	13	27	35	*
1998 Mar 6-9	25	13	24	37	1
1995 Aug 11-14	23	13	34	30	--
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Cable news networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	40	16	27	16	*
2006 Dec 11-14	34	16	30	20	*
2004 Dec 5-8	39	16	25	20	*
2002 Dec 5-8	41	15	26	18	*
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Public television news?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	28	11	30	31	*
2006 Dec 11-14	28	12	30	30	*
2004 Dec 5-8	27	11	28	33	1
2002 Dec 5-8	35	12	29	24	*
1999 Jul 22-25	30	12	33	24	1
1998 Jul 13-14	16	9	33	40	2
1998 Mar 6-9	19	10	32	37	2
1995 Aug 11-14	23	15	39	22	1
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Local television news from TV stations in your area?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	51	13	23	13	*
2006 Dec 11-14	55	14	23	8	*
2004 Dec 5-8	51	19	19	11	*
2002 Dec 5-8	57	16	18	9	*
1999 Jul 22-25	58	14	19	9	*
1998 Jul 13-14	57	15	19	9	*
1998 Mar 6-9	56	17	17	9	1
1995 Aug 11-14	55	18	20	7	--
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- National Public Radio?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	18	9	27	46	*
2006 Dec 11-14	19	8	28	45	*
2004 Dec 5-8	17	12	25	46	*
2002 Dec 5-8	22	9	28	40	1
1999 Jul 22-25	17	10	32	41	*
1998 Jul 13-14	15	12	25	47	1
1998 Mar 6-9	20	10	26	43	1
1995 Aug 11-14	18	11	36	35	--
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- Radio talk shows?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	18	10	28	43	*
2006 Dec 11-14	20	9	27	44	*
2004 Dec 5-8	21	12	25	42	--
2002 Dec 5-8	22	10	29	39	*
1999 Jul 22-25	12	8	33	47	*
1998 Jul 13-14	12	9	21	58	*
1998 Mar 6-9	11	5	25	58	1
1995 Aug 11-14	12	5	35	48	--
^ Asked of a half sample; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

Please indicate how often you get your news from each of the following sources -- every day, several times a week, occasionally or never. How about -- News on the Internet?

	Every day	Several times a week	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	31	11	22	35	*
2006 Dec 11-14	22	11	24	43	*
2004 Dec 5-8	20	6	25	49	*
2002 Dec 5-8	15	8	27	50	*
1999 Jul 22-25 ^	8	7	23	62	*
1998 Jul 13-14 ^	7	6	17	70	*
1998 Mar 6-9 ^	5	6	18	70	1
1995 Aug 11-14 ^	3	3	12	82	--
^ WORDING: News on the computer using the Internet or an online computer service; * Less than 0.5%
Gallup

And how often do you get your news from each of the following WEEKLY sources of news: every week, several times a month, occasionally or never. How about -- Weekly newsmagazines?

	Every week	Several times a month	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	8	3	20	68	*
2006 Dec 11-14	12	6	18	64	*
2004 Dec 5-8	11	4	21	64	*
2002 Dec 5-8	12	5	20	63	*
1998 Jul 13-14	15	6	27	52	--
1998 Mar 6-9	13	6	26	54	1
1995 Aug 11-14	14	5	30	51	--
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

And how often do you get your news from each of the following WEEKLY sources of news: every week, several times a month, occasionally or never. How about -- Television news programs on Sunday mornings?

	Every week	Several times a month	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	21	6	21	53	*
2006 Dec 11-14	19	5	26	50	*
2004 Dec 5-8	18	7	22	53	*
2002 Dec 5-8	18	5	25	52	*
1998 Jul 13-14	17	6	27	50	--
1998 Mar 6-9	18	5	27	49	1
1995 Aug 11-14	16	5	32	47	--
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

And how often do you get your news from each of the following WEEKLY sources of news: every week, several times a month, occasionally or never. How about -- TV news magazine shows during the evenings -- such as "60 Minutes," "20/20," "Dateline" and others?

	Every week	Several times a month	Occasionally	Never	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2008 Dec 4-7	17	11	40	31	*
2006 Dec 11-14	20	12	45	23	*
2004 Dec 5-8	19	11	44	26	*
2002 Dec 5-8	23	12	45	20	--
1998 Jul 13-14 ^	30	14	42	14	*
1998 Mar 6-9 ^	30	15	42	12	1
1995 Aug 11-14 ^	33	15	43	9	--
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

In general, do you think the local news media in your area are -- [ROTATED: too liberal, just about right or too conservative]?

	Too liberal	Just about right	Too conservative	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 Sep 14-16 ^	25	56	16	3
^ Asked of a half sample
Gallup

As you may know, "citizen journalism" is the process by which people use technology such as cell phone cameras, video recorders and internet websites to post pictures, stories and videos of news events they encounter. Do you think citizen journalism is likely to be more reliable or less reliable than the traditional news media?

	More reliable	Less reliable	Same (vol.)	No opinion
	%	%	%	%
2007 Jan 5-7	45	48	3	5
(vol.) = Volunteered response
Gallup

Do you, personally, have any concerns about the accuracy of reports made by citizen journalists, or not?

	Yes, have concerns	No, do not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2007 Jan 5-7	62	35	3
Gallup

Do you, personally, have any concerns about the accuracy of reports made by traditional journalists, or not?

	Yes, have concerns	No, do not	No opinion
	%	%	%
2007 Jan 5-7	61	38	1
Gallup

How likely is it that you, personally, would ever participate in citizen journalism -- very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely or not at all likely?

	Very likely	Somewhat likely	Not too likely	Not at all likely	No opinion
	%	%	%	%	%
2007 Jan 5-7	8	16	34	41	*
* Less than 0.5%
Gallup

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