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© Reuters / Dustin Chambers
Americans' trust in the media has plummeted four percentage points since last year to 36 percent — and is the lowest since 2016, a new poll released Thursday found.

Just 7 percent say they have a "great deal" of trust and confidence in newspapers, television and radio reporting the news accurately and fairly, and 29 percent say they have a "fair amount," the Gallup poll shows.

That combined 36 percent is four percentage points from 2016's record low of 32 percent, the poll said. More than a third — 34 percent — say they have "none at all" and 29 percent have "not very much."

Gallup, which has been tracking trust in the media annually since 1997, found that it peaked at 55 percent in 1999 and began slipping away since.

The steepest drop — eight percentage points — occurred between 2014 and 2016. Trust in the media is also greatly polarized.
media trust
© GallupAmericans' trust in the media has plummeted four percentage points since last year to 36 percent.
Sixty-eight percent of Democrats, 11 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents say they trust the media a great deal or a fair amount.

Trust among Democrats and independents fell five percentage points in the past year, while Republicans' trust rose one percentage point, but that's still 10 percentage points down from 21 percent in 2018.

Democrats' highest level of trust in the media peaked in 2018 at 76 percent, Republicans' in 1998 at 52 percent and independents' in 2003 at 53 percent.

The poll surveyed 1,005 adults between Sept. 1 and 17. It has a plus/minus four percentage-point margin of error.