Gallup-Knight survey: Majority of Americans doubt Media’s intentions

The report shows that Americans are having more difficulty than ever determining what to believe, with 61% of respondents saying that the increase in information across the media landscape has made it hard  to sort fake information from true. The media landscape has become fractured, and the same story is presented in entirely different ways to different audiences.

The study also showed that media trust varies along predictable lines, with Democrats expressing significantly more trust in news organizations than Republicans. Among Republicans, trust in news continues to decline.

It is unclear how any single news organization can solve for this. MSNBC boss Rashida Jones offered her perspective on trust in media, stating that delivering the truth to audiences as the best path forward. Jones champions editorial philosophy that focuses on whether angles being presented are representative of truth and democracy, rather than a political perspective.

The truth can offend, but it must not be sacrificed. However, delivering the truth can be challenging if one political party, operating in an entirely different media ecosystem largely void of fact-based journalism, tells lies and promotes misinformation at a far higher rate than the other. The question remains whether delivering the truth can still be at the heart of a news organization’s mission in 2023 if it means offending one end of the political spectrum at a far greater frequency than the other.