A new survey is about the news. And it’s not good news for those in the news business.
There have been surveys before in recent years about whether people trust the news. But this latest one released by Gallup and the Knight Foundation found that half of Americans believe that the national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.
This survey found that 52% of the respondents said they don’t think that the disseminators of national news “care about the best interests of their readers, viewers and listeners. Only 23% of those questioned believe the national journalists were acting in the public’s best interests.
A spokesperson for this survey said it appears that “Americans don’t seem to think that the national news organizations care about the overall impact of their reporting on the society.”
The good news in this survey about the news is that Americans have more trust in local news, the news about their community reported on by journalists in the local community.
The one other finding that stood out in this study was that despite there being more news sources than ever and instantly available on your phone, a lot of Americans say they’re suffering from an information overload with more than 60 percent saying it makes it harder to stay informed.
So maybe the takeaway from this survey should be like healthy eating. When it comes to the news, consume it wisely.
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