A new Gallup poll finds that only 28% of Americans trust mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly, the lowest level since Gallup began tracking the measure in the 1970s. The figure is down from 31% last year and 40% five years ago, with the decline spanning political parties and age groups amid ongoing debates over bias and high‑profile coverage errors.
Gallup's latest survey on confidence in newspapers, television and radio shows a sharp erosion of public faith in the news media. According to Gallup, trust has fallen to 28%, the first time the share of Americans expressing a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust has dropped below 30% since the organization began tracking the question in the 1970s, when about 68% to 72% of Americans said they trusted the media.
Gallup reports that 28% of U.S. adults now say they have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. In contrast, 36% say they have "not very much" confidence, and 34% say they have "none at all," meaning roughly seven in ten express little or no trust.
The decline cuts across demographic and political lines. In Gallup's breakdown, Republicans' confidence has fallen to 8%, the first single‑digit reading since the trend began. Independents register 27% trust, matching last year's record low, while Democrats stand at 51%, tying their lowest level since 2016. Older adults aged 65 and above report relatively higher trust at 43%, whereas younger adults under 50 in both Gallup and Axios summaries rarely exceed the high‑20s in their reported confidence levels.
These findings come amid repeated controversies over major news coverage. Conservative outlets, including The Daily Wire, have pointed to The New York Times' widely criticized October 2023 initial coverage of an explosion at a Gaza hospital, which was faulted by critics for relying too heavily on early claims from Palestinian officials before key facts were verified. Commentators have also accused mainstream outlets of handling allegations of Vice President Kamala Harris's past plagiarism more cautiously than similar controversies involving Republican politicians, though such claims reflect opinion and are disputed.
Separate from the trust survey, The Daily Wire notes that former President Donald Trump has filed defamation suits against The New York Times over coverage of his business dealings, alleging the newspaper published false, reputation‑damaging claims. (Some of Trump's suits against the Times in recent years have been dismissed or narrowed in court, while others have been amended or refiled.)
Additionally, the conservative Media Research Center has published an October 2025 content analysis of network news coverage during the recent government shutdown. According to that study, coverage on ABC, CBS and NBC was 87% favorable to Democratic perspectives, with only 12 instances of criticism directed at Democrats, while Republican positions received far more negative treatment. The methodology and conclusions of such media‑monitoring studies are themselves a subject of debate among scholars and journalists.
Together, the Gallup findings and partisan critiques of specific coverage decisions underscore an ongoing crisis of confidence in U.S. media, as news organizations face pressure to demonstrate accuracy and fairness to an increasingly skeptical public.
