Confidence in the establishment media has sunk amid disproved media narratives, according to Gallup polling on Tuesday.
Only 11 percent have either a great deal or quite a bit of confidence in the establishment media, sinking five points since 2021.
Democrats’ trust in television networks dropped the most by 6 points, down from 26 percent. Only eight percent of independents trust the media, dropping five points in one year from 13 percent. Republicans’ confidence in television media increased two points from six to eight percent.
Americans have greater trust in newspapers, but their confidence in papers still decreased. Thirty-five percent of Democrats trust the medium, down three points. Independents’ trust dropped seven points to 12 percent. Republicans trust dropped three points to five percent.
Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, enters to testify as the House Jan. 6 select committee holds a hearing on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, June 28, 2022. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Americans’ confidence in the establishment media comes as many narratives have been debunked. The media pushed Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony to the January 6 committee as credible, but much of Hutchinson’s hearsay claims were debunked just hours after the congressional hearing.
In 2020, the media claimed that Hunter Biden’s laptop was Russian disinformation. The laptop was later confirmed to be authenticated over a year after it was authenticated initially by Breitbart News’ Emma-Jo Morris while working with the New York Post.
Joe Biden, left, stands with his son Hunter, on Tuesday, January 6, 2009, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
During Donald Trump’s presidency, the media pushed the false narrative that Jussie Smollett was a victim of an attack perpetrated by Donald Trump supporters. Smollett’s report to police that two men yelled racist slurs and attacked him were found contrary to court evidence. Though Smollett has continued to claim otherwise, he was sentenced to 30 months of felony probation and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago for staging a fake hate crime.
In December, the media claimed that gas prices would become less expensive, decreasing below $3 per gallon. Six months later, gas prices reached over $5 per gallon and have remained at record highs.
Throughout 2021, the media also ran with the White House’s narrative that inflation was transitory. But inflation has remained at a 40-year-high for months and will likely remain high in 2023.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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