It’s become glaringly clear that an overwhelming majority of Americans have completely lost faith in the mainstream media’s ability to report the news accurately. A stark new poll from the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research reveals that a whopping 83% of respondents harbor serious concerns about the potential for media to spread “inaccurate information or disinformation” during the 2024 election coverage.
What’s more, 81% are worried the media will report unverified information, while 77% are concerned that the media will dishonestly frame their reporting to favor preferred political candidates. An alarming 72% also fear the rise of artificial intelligence in generating news stories, indicating a deep-seated distrust in the mechanisms behind news production itself.
This decline in trust isn’t just a statistical anomaly; it’s a direct consequence of years of biased reporting and media malpractice. The media’s credibility took a nosedive around 2018 during the Trump administration, exemplified by the unjust character assassination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Simultaneously, President Trump was ludicrously accused of being a covert Kremlin agent—a narrative pushed without a shred of conclusive evidence.
The debacle continued through the 2020 presidential campaign, where the corporate media egregiously dismissed the revelations from Hunter Biden’s laptop about Joe Biden’s possible involvement in his son’s overseas business dealings. Outlets like National Public Radio dismissed the scandal and publications like Politico were quick to dub the laptop as potential Russian disinformation, only to confirm its authenticity long after the election had passed.
Such relentless dishonesty and blatant bias have eroded the media’s reputation, leaving the public skeptical of anything it reports. The consequences are profound; a misinformed or uninformed electorate undermines the very foundation of our democratic processes. The new AP-NORC survey, conducted with a margin of error of +/-2.9 percent, is not just a reflection of a disenchanted public, but a dire warning. If the media continues down this path of political partisanship and dishonest reporting, we risk not only further division but a complete collapse of public trust in our central institutions. In a country built on the principles of freedom and democracy, this is a situation we can ill afford.
