Americans are starting to have more confidence in the news media’s ability to accurately and fairly report information to the public, though overall trust still remains substantially lower than it was in years past, according to new data released by Gallup this week.
Thirty-three percent of U.S. adults say they have a great deal or fair amount of confidence in newspapers, television and radio to report news fully, accurately and fairly, according to Gallup’s latest Governance poll. That compares with a record-low 28 percent in 2025.
Another 33 percent of Americans said they have not very much confidence in the media, while an equal 33 percent said they have no confidence at all.
Most of the improvement came from Republicans, whose confidence in mass media increased to 22 percent from a record-low 8 percent last year. The latest figure is the highest Gallup has recorded among Republicans since 2015.
Confidence among Democrats was essentially unchanged at 50 percent, compared with 51 percent last year, while 31 percent of independents expressed confidence in the media. The independent figure was also statistically unchanged.
The partisan divide nevertheless remains substantial, with Democrats more than twice as likely as Republicans to express confidence in mass media.
Despite the overall improvement, the latest figures remain well below historical levels. Around seven in 10 Americans expressed confidence in the media when Gallup first measured the issue during the 1970s. Confidence remained above 50 percent when Gallup resumed the measurement in the 1990s and into the early 2000s before beginning a longer decline.
Gallup conducted the latest over a nearly-three week period in September. The polling period ended before the Trump administration restricted White House access for several national news organizations, which is now at the center of a protracted legal battle.
