Americans have become sharply divided over their views of the media, as trust in the media has diverged along party lines. Republicans are far less likely to trust the media, new research reveals.
Most Democrats (82%) say they support the news media’s watchdog role, compared to 38 percent of Republicans, according to a recent survey by Pew Research Center. Most Republicans (58%) think news media criticism hinders political leaders from doing their jobs. That’s a substantial change from the past. Members of the two parties were about equally likely to support the news media’s watchdog role in 2016.
An overwhelming 86 percent of Republicans say the media favors one side (presumably not their own) when covering political and social issues, compared to about 50 percent of Democrats.
Low Overall Trust in the Media
About a third of Democrats say information from national news organizations is very trustworthy, compared to just 12 percent of Republicans. Also, 27 percent of Democrats say the national news media do very well at keeping them informed, compared to just 11 percent of Republicans.
Although only 21 percent of Americans express a high level of trust in the information from national news organizations, most are confident in the accuracy of news content: 71 percent expect an article in a national news organization will be largely accurate. Yet most don’t expect news organizations to willingly admit when they have made mistakes.
While one-in-five Americans (21%) have a lot of trust in the information they get from national news organizations, only 4 percent place great faith in news on social media sites.
A new Gallup poll reveals that most U.S. adults, including more than nine in 10 Republicans, say they personally have lost trust in the news media in recent years. At the same time, 69 percent of those who have lost trust say that trust can be restored. The Gallup research, part of the Knight Foundation’s Trust, Media and Democracy Initiative, found that the publication’s reputation is a main factor in winning trust. Both Republicans and Democrats were less likely to trust news sources with a partisan reputation that opposes their own.
More Brands May Take Sides
More corporations and their PR departments may be caught in the middle and pressured to take sides. More companies will proactively take a side on a divisive issue in calculated bets they’ll win more loyal customers. Nike offers the most recent high-profile example of a brand wading into a controversial topic with its ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The key for brands like Nike will be to understand their customer base.
“Be transparent and honest with your core beliefs,” advises Kirk Deis of Treehouse 51, a Forbes Agency Council member. “If you can be true to yourself, haters will hate, but the fans will grow. Don’t let ‘pleasing everyone’ slow you down from sharing your brand with the world.”
The declining lack of trust in the media holds important implications for public relations. Since lack of public trust in the media damages trust in corporate news announcements, business and its PR professionals have a vested interest the media’s reputation.
PR can take steps to improve the media’s reputation, including maintaining transparency and accuracy in corporate communications, employ a media monitoring tool to uncover inaccurate or fake news, and quickly debunk misinformation.
Bottom Line: New research reveals a growing divide on the amount of trust Americans have in the media. While trust in the media is low overall, Republicans are much more likely to distrust the media than Democrats. Brands will likely take that trend into account when developing their PR and marketing campaigns and as more organizations wade into controversial issues.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
