According to a new HarrisX poll — part of global marketing and communications group Stagwell’s weekly consumer sentiment tracking — 42% of Americans say their trust in the news has declined, compared to just 15% saying it’s improving and 43% seeing no improvement.
More than half of respondents (57%) give misinformation/fake news as the top issue undermining their trust in news, followed by poor separation between news and opinion content (46%) and sensationalism and bias (44%). Others mentioned include a lack of accountability in journalism, an overemphasis on negative or “clickbait” stories (39% each), and political pressure on news organizations (38%).
Two-thirds of the sample (65%) say they trust radio as a source of news, ahead of national newspapers (64%), cable news (59%), magazines (58%), online publications (55%), podcasts (52%), and social media (41%).
The poll also finds that eight in 10 Americans (78%) follow general news the most, leading political news (71%), economic news (63%), international news/global affairs (63%), and healthcare news (59%). More than half (56%) of adults feel it’s important for younger generations to watch the news more than they currently do.
HarrisX also breaks out survey participants labeling themselves “news junkies,” accounting for 25% of the sample, with 23% saying they’re sports and 17% entertainment junkies. News junkies are more likely to be members of GenX (64%, compared to 58% of the general population) and college graduates (51%, vs. 38% of the general population).
The study finds that news junkies check the news an average of 5.6 times a day and read an average of seven news stories a day. Note to advertisers: nearly eight in 10 (78%) say companies should advertise on news media, vs. 71% of the total sample, and 74% have a more positive impression of companies that advertise on news media, vs. 66% of all respondents.