A new Marist/NPR poll released Monday shows 68 percent of American adults trust the media either “not very much” or, as 37 percent responded, “not at all.”
The poll found the same proportion of adults did not trust Congress, with 46 percent trusting our legislative branch not very much and 22 percent not trusting it at all. Americans, meanwhile, were slightly more trusting of the administration of President Donald Trump, if still generally skeptical of his honesty. Forty-one percent trusted him not at all with an additional 20 percent trusting him not very much.
Among respondents who identified themselves as “strong Republicans,” the administration still holds a position of trust not seen in any segment of American society for the media. Fully 90 percent of such American adults said they trusted the Trump White House either “a great deal” or “a good amount.” The same figure among all Republicans was a still impressive 84 percent. For comparison, the highest such figure for the media among “strong Democrats” was 70 percent. Only 54 percent of Democrats overall found the media trustworthy.
In a dig against its own relevance, the Marist/NPR poll found Americans on both sides of the political spectrum have little trust in opinion polling. Just 35 percent of American adults trust the polls a great deal or a good amount, rising to only 50 percent among Democrats. Sixty-one percent, the same figure as for the Trump administration, do not trust polls.
The results for Trump are virtually unchanged since MaristPoll asked the same questions in March, shortly after the president’s inauguration. Each response category changed two percentage points or less over the last four months.
Fully five percent more of the American public, however, says they do not trust the media at all than they did in March, expanding from 32 to 37 percent of adults.