Why 23% of Americans Don't Trust Traditional Media

image
Created: 19 Jun, 2013
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
2 min read

In the battle between online and traditional media, the Internet has repeatedly come out on top, with recent findings further indicating the erosion of Americans' confidence in traditional media.

According to Gallup, Americans' trust in newspapers fell to 23 percent this year, the second lowest percentage recorded by Gallup. Similarly, confidence in TV cable is reportedly low, with just 23 percent of Americans expressing confidence in it.

Increasingly shut out of the partisan rhetoric of the mainstream media, unaffiliated voters have been steadily losing trust in traditional media.

During one of the most negative presidential campaigns in history, just one in three independent voters had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in the media. Furthermore, as reported in Pew's 2013 State of the News Media Report, independents are 34 percent more likely to have left a news outlet than Republican and Democrats, indicating their discontent in the current state of traditional media.

Given that independent voters are also the fastest growing voter block, the overall trend towards new media makes sense.

The limitations of print media, newspapers especially, have had drastic implications on revenues and staffing, with newspapers experiencing a 47 percent revenue drop between 2005 and 2009, and a 30 percent reduction in newsroom staff since 2000.

What traditional media lacks, digital media makes up for in speed, relevancy, and cost.

"We have reached a tipping point at which we can most efficiently and effectively reach our readers in all-digital format. This was not the case just two years ago. It will increasingly be the case in the years ahead,"  Newsweek founder Tina Brown wrote last year when explaining her decision to -- after 80 years of print -- adopt an all-digital platform.

Technology has undoubtedly changed the way we digest news, allowing us to browse keywords, bookmark valuable content, follow primary sources using social media, and even create the news.

IVP Donate

To illustrate the ways in which technology has transformed the media, World Wide Learn has created the infographic below.

With confidence in traditional media plummeting, what's in store for the future of news?

trust_traditional_media_info

Latest articles

Man in suit sitting at desk writing on a document with a stethoscope on the desk and a map of California in the background.
AB 955 Revisited: How to Expand Cross-Border Care Without Sacrificing Patient Protections
IVN recently examined AB 955, by Assemblymember David Alvarez. The bill seeks to expand a healthcare service program I created in 1998 as the author of SB1658....
14 May, 2025
-
4 min read
A pharmacist handing a customer prescription medication.
Gov. Newsom Targets Prescription Drug Middlemen in New Reform Proposal
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is reviving efforts to regulate the powerful and often opaque intermediaries at the center of the prescription drug supply chain. In a proposal unveiled as part of his revised May budget, Newsom calls for stringent oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies he says are driving up patient costs....
14 May, 2025
-
2 min read
Half of image shows hand holding an I voted sticker. The other half shows Chula Vista City Hall.
Chula Vista Voters Want More Choice -- Will the City Council Listen?
Voters in Chula Vista are signaling strong support for election reform. A recent independent poll conducted by Competitive Edge Research & Communication and funded by the Independent Voter Project shows that nearly two-thirds of voters support the More Choice Voting measure, a proposed change that would give voters the ability to rank candidates and increase the number of candidates who advance to general elections....
14 May, 2025
-
2 min read