WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even though most Americans continue to say the U.S. media have a lot of freedom, the percentage saying so has reached a new low this year. Slightly more than two in three Americans (69%) surveyed in May and June say there is a lot of media freedom in the U.S., down six percentage points from the previous low of 75% in 2025.
Declines in perceptions of media freedom in the U.S. began after 2022, when 86% said the media have a lot of freedom. This figure was in line with the average since the Gallup World Poll first asked the question in 2010, despite some annual fluctuations. In 2023, it fell by eight points to 78%.
Perceptions of media freedom rebounded somewhat in 2024 during President Joe Biden’s final year in office, but since then, the downward trend has resumed.
Partisan Divide Appears
In 2024, when the Gallup World Poll began measuring party identification in the U.S., there were no meaningful political divides over whether people felt the media have a lot of freedom. Since then, however, a party gap has emerged.
In 2025, the year President Donald Trump took office for a second term, perceived media freedom fell 22 points among Democrats and five points among independents, while there was an increase among Republicans (from 83% to 93%). This year, Democrats and independents have fallen by six and seven points, respectively, while there has been little change among Republicans.
The result of these changes is that now more than nine in 10 Republicans (91%) say the U.S. media have a lot of freedom, significantly higher than Democrats (57%) and political independents (68%).
U.S. No Longer Stands Out Compared With Other Advanced Economies
For much of the past 15 years, perceptions of media freedom in the U.S. have outpaced those in other advanced economies. Across 38 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, median perceptions of media freedom have typically hovered around 80%, slightly lower than in the United States.
Last year was the first time on record that the two were tied, both at 75%, despite similarities in 2023 and 2015, when the U.S. advantage was smaller. While Gallup has not yet completed data collection in all OECD countries this year, based on available data, the OECD median will be between 70% and 76%. This means that 2026 is the first year on record in which the U.S. ranks below the bloc's median.
These declines in perceptions of U.S. media freedom have occurred within a broader context of declining trust in the mass media. Even though the Gallup Poll Social Series has recently measured a small uptick in trust, from 28% in 2025 to 33% this year, driven mostly by Republicans, most Americans continue to distrust the mass media.
Bottom Line
Public belief in U.S. media freedom continues to erode, while trust in the news media remains on the low end of what Gallup has measured historically. Many Americans lack a shared perspective toward their news environment, given partisan divides in perceptions of media freedom and trust. Views of media freedom seem closely tied to which party is in power, while views of trust have more enduring partisan divides, with Republicans being much more distrustful than Democrats. Both patterns raise questions about whether the media can be seen as an effective watchdog over those in power.
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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
