© AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews
A majority of Americans believe the media is vital for democracy, but see an increasing level of bias in news coverage,
a new report from Gallup and the Knight Foundation found.
About 84% of Americans said the news media is "critical" or "very important" to democracy, according to the report.
However, 49% of those surveyed see "a great deal" of political bias in news coverage.
"Most Americans have lost confidence in the media to deliver the news objectively," said Sam Gill, Knight's senior vice president and chief program officer. "This is corrosive for our democracy."
Gallup and Knight polled more than 20,000 U.S. adults in their latest report, "American Views 2020: Trust, Media and Democracy." It builds on a previous report
conducted by Gallup and the Knight Foundation in 2018.
Political affiliations played a key role in determining people's views on the press.
While 22% of Democrats and 51% of independents have a "somewhat" or "very" unfavorable opinion of the news media, roughly three-fourths of Republicans felt the same way, according to the report.
Political affiliation's role is reflected throughout the report, particularly in determining whether political attacks on the press are warranted.
While 80% of Americans believe the press is being politically undermined, 70% of Democrats believe the attacks are not merited; adversely, 61% of Republicans believe the attacks are justifiable.
Comment: This is just the latest fire to be reported following the explosion in Beirut, and, while all of them may not be related, as fires in residential buildings in the Emirates are not unheard of, the sheer number of as yet unexplained fires lately is notable:
The Beirut blast and some, but not all, of the subsequent fires.