Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

A new study by the Pew Research Center is calling attention to the divisions that exist across the country as we head into the 2020 election — not only politically but in how ideologies are affecting people’s trust in news outlets.

According to the center, respondents were shown grids of 30 news outlets and were first asked to select outlets they had heard of. If they had heard of the outlet, they were then asked if they trusted it for political and election news. If they didn’t say they trusted an outlet, they were asked if they distrusted it. Lastly, they were asked if they had gotten any political or election news in the past week from each.

The results found that of the 12,043 U.S. adults who participated, those who considered themselves Republican or Republican-leaning said they distrusted more than trusted 20 out of 30 different news sources, while Democrats were the opposite and trusted more than distrusted 22 out of 30 sources.

Republicans got their political and election news from a smaller group of sources than Democrats, with a high reliance on Fox News. Democrats were found to use a wider range of sources.

A comparison to a similar study from the center in 2014 found that Republicans’ distrust increased for 15 of the 20 news sources over the last five years, while Democrats’ trust and distrust changed considerably less.

The largest distrust amongst Republicans came for the news organizations often decried by President Donald Trump, including CNN, which increased in distrust from 33% in 2014 to 58% today; The Washington Post, which increased in distrust from 22% to 39%; and The New York Times, up from 29% to 42%. Republican distrust also grew for USA Today from 16% to 26%; and The Wall Street Journal, from 11% to 19%. Distrust grew by about 10% for both CBS and ABC.

Among Democrats, distrust and trust levels remained relatively stable from 2014 to 2019, with exception of the Sean Hannity radio show, where distrust rose from 32% to 38%, and Brietbart News, where distrust grew from 7% to 36%.

Why is the distrust increasing?

A separate study by the Pew Research Center, released in December, explored more than 50 different surveys conducted by the center, along with analyzing over 100 questions measuring possible factors that could drive trust — or distrust — in the news media. The center found the largest factor to be political party identification and found that as many as 31% of Republicans said journalists have very low ethical standards. Five percent of Democrats said the same.

As a journalist, these results are disheartening.

As we move further into the election season, I encourage you to rely on multiple news sources to get your information and to look at all sides of every issue. Do not rely solely on a source that is known to be leaning one way or another, and make sure to differentiate between news articles and news commentary when you are gathering your facts.

I assure you locally of our commitment to pursue truth, and I hope you rely on us for information about candidates on all levels of government over the next nine months.

It is critical to be informed when you’re making decisions on who to lead our city, state and nation.

 

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.