- Only 28% of Americans trust the media to report the news accurately
- Trust among Republicans drops to single digits, while Democrats remain above 50%
- Younger Americans show especially low confidence in the press, deepening credibility crisis
Americans’ confidence in the mass media has plunged to a new historic low, with just 28% saying they trust newspapers, television or radio “to fully, accurately and fairly” report the news, according to Gallup’s latest survey. This marks the first time Gallup’s trust metric has dipped below 30%.
That’s down sharply from 31% in 2024 and from 40% five years ago. Meanwhile, 70% of U.S. adults now say they have “not very much” (36%) or “none at all” (34%) confidence in the media.
Partisan breakdowns are stark. Among Republicans, trust has dropped to 8% – the first time in Gallup’s trends that it has fallen to single digits. Independents report 27% trust, matching last year’s low, while Democrats register a slim majority at 51%.
A generational divide is also clear: in the aggregated data from 2023 to 2025, 43% of Americans aged 65+ trust the media, compared with as low as 28% in younger age groups.
Gallup’s survey was conducted by phone from September 2-16, 2025, polling a random sample of 1,000 U.S. adults with a margin of error of ±4 percentage points.
The findings highlight a deepening crisis of credibility for the American press. With fewer than three in ten Americans expressing trust, publishers face an uphill battle in sustaining legitimacy. Deepening skepticism creates challenges for subscription, donation and membership-based models, and may force news organisations to double down on transparency, sourcing and corrections to rebuild confidence.
The results also underline a worrying generational gap, with younger audiences showing especially low trust in media.
- https://news.gallup.com/poll/695762/trust-media-new-low.aspx – This Gallup survey reports that only 28% of Americans trust newspapers, television, or radio to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly, marking the first time the trust metric has dipped below 30%.
- https://www.wlsam.com/2025/02/27/gallup-us-trust-in-media-hits-50-year-low/ – This article highlights that trust in the mass media among Americans has dropped to the lowest level in more than 50 years, with just under 1 in 3 Americans expressing trust in mainstream news outlets.
- https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/tvb-local-tv-news-remains-valuable-to-viewers-advertisers – A 2025 study by GfK/NIQ for TVB reveals that local broadcast news remains a trusted and influential information source for American viewers, with 88% trusting local TV news most.
- https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/05/08/republicans-have-become-more-likely-since-2024-to-trust-information-from-news-outlets-social-media/ – This Pew Research Center survey indicates that Republicans have become more likely since 2024 to trust information from news organizations and social media sites, reflecting a shift in partisan trust dynamics.
- https://www.nysun.com/article/gallup-americans-trust-in-news-media-drops-to-new-record-low – This article discusses how trust in mass media has dropped steadily since the mid-1970s, with just over 50% of Democrats expressing trust in the media, according to a recent Gallup survey.
- https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/tvb-local-tv-news-remains-valuable-to-viewers-advertisers – A 2025 study by GfK/NIQ for TVB reveals that local broadcast news remains a trusted and influential information source for American viewers, with 88% trusting local TV news most.
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