In a recent Reuters Institute report, the United States is ranked last in trust of the mainstream media, polling at just 29% nationwide.
The United States ranks last in media trust, polling at around 29%, after 92,000 people were surveyed in 46 countries, a report released Wednesday found. That’s worse than Poland, the Philippines, and Peru. According to the report, Finland is leading the charge in media trust with 65% approval.
The annual digital news report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford additionally found an uptick in media trust in nearly all the countries surveyed. The United States, however, did not see the same uptick, where the low rating was flat year to year. It is likely that the lack of media trust in the United States could be due to the controversy and dishonesty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reporters at Poynter.org seem to think this might be the case, citing, “One explanation, though not necessarily the only one, is the extreme political polarization in the U.S. This study, like many others, found extremely high levels of distrust — 75% of those who identify as being on the right thought coverage of their views is unfair.”
