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Americans’ Trust in Medical Workers Skyrockets, Opinion of Media Plummets

Photo by Scheier .hr/Unsplash
Photo by Scheier .hr/Unsplash
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By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

August 5, 2020

In the months since the beginning of the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, Americans’ trust in medical workers has increased nearly 50%. Their trust in the media, though, has taken a nosedive.

David Martosko, former U.S. political editor for DailyMail.com, shared the recently released Axios/Harris Poll analysis, asking, “Can anyone honestly doubt journalism has lost its way?”

Can anyone honestly doubt journalism has lost its way? This new @HarrisPoll poll (via @axios) shows airlines as the only industry that's lost more public approval than the media since the start of the COVID epidemic. pic.twitter.com/vEjwhcDMtc

— David Martosko (@dmartosko) July 30, 2020

The survey, which gauged the reputations of the most visible brands in the country, was conducted between the fall of 2019 and the summer of 2020. Harris Poll conducted four rounds of nominations — Nov. 4-6, 2019; Nov. 12-14, 2019; Dec. 5-9, 2019; and June 11-15, 2020 — totaling 8,392 respondents. The ratings portion of the poll was conducted between June 24, 2020, to July 6, 2020, totaling 34,026 respondents “who are very or somewhat familiar” with the companies listed.

Americans’ trust in the fourth estate is constantly in flux.

MSNBC Producer Quits, Claiming Ratings Obsession ‘Blocks Diversity of Thought’

A Morning Consult survey released in April shows Americans’ views of the news media — largely driven by Republicans — has sharply declined since President Donald Trump took office in 2016. Since his inauguration, Trump has frequently bashed the press for spreading “fake news” intentionally damaging to conservative ideals.

The share of U.S. adults who find major American news sources to be credible has consistently turned downward. In 2016, for example, 60.6% found news media credible. That number dropped to 51.2% by April 2020.

Bad news for journalism.

News Media Credibility Rating Falls to a New Low – Morning Consult:https://t.co/Wbkl1HfjJj pic.twitter.com/iCP5eLcX5V

— Vlad ツ (@NuclearVlad) April 22, 2020

Republicans have become, on average, 16 percentage points less likely to view major American media outlets as reliable. In 2016, a majority of GOPers — 56% — said outlets like NBC and NPR were credible. Only 40% said the same in April.

Overall, Americans don’t seem to have a whole lot of faith in cable news coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

Thirty-four percent of all voters surveyed said Fox News’ COVID-19 reporting was “excellent” or “good.” Thirty-three percent said the same about CNN and 29% of MSNBC.

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