The confidence of U.S. citizens in American newspaper and television news has fallen to all-time lows, according to a survey conducted by Gallup, between June 1 and 20.
Only 16 percent of respondents have “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of confidence in newspapers, according to the poll. When it comes to television news, this number falls to 11 percent. Of the 16 American institutions measured in the confidence survey, newspapers and television news ranked in the second-to-last spot, with Congress in the last position.
It was not always so dismal. Back in 1979, for example, newspapers garnered their highest level of confidence, at 51 percent. The second-highest reading was at 39 percent, scored in 1973 and 1990. The percentage of Americans who have no or “very little” confidence in newspapers was a record-high 46 percent in the recent poll….