The public continues to take a skeptical view of reporting from the major news outlets.
No more than a third says they can believe all or most of the reporting by 14 major news organizations.
There has been little change in public views of media credibility since 2008. Since the late 1990’s, however, there has been significant erosion in the believability ratings of several news organizations.
For example, since 1998 ABC News, CBS News and NBC News have all seen
substantial declines in the
percentages saying they believe all or most of what they say (among those who say they can rate those organizations). Currently, about two-in-ten say they believe all or most information from ABC News (21%), CBS News (21%) and NBC News (20%) – down from about three-in-ten in 1998.
The longer-term declines can be seen across different media groups as well. Since 1998, CNN and the Wall Street Journal, for example, have experienced double-digit declines in the percentages saying they can believe all or most of their reporting (a rating of four on a scale of one to four). Currently, 29% say they can believe all or most of the reporting of CNN and 25% say the same about the Wall Street Journal.
The credibility ratings for Fox News (27% today) and 60 Minutes (33%) have shown less change over the past decade. And NPR is the only news organization whose credibility rating has improved since 1998 – 28% now give it the top rating compared with 19% a dozen years ago.
News Organization Believability
Believe all or most
Believe almost
nothing Can’t rate
4 3 2 1 N
% % % % %
60 Minutes 33 34 22 11=100 859 15
Local TV news 29 40 23 8=100 931 7
CNN 29 36 22 13=100 894 10
NPR 28 32 25 16=100 696 28
Fox News 27 29 22 22=100 900 8
Wall Street Journal 25 37 23 14=100 701 27
C-SPAN 23 35 25 17=100 658 32
MSNBC 22 38 21 19=100 839 15
ABC News 21 43 23 13=100 901 9
CBS News 21 41 24 15=100 889 12
Your daily newspaper 21 38 27 14=100 921 9
NBC News 20 43 23 14=100 914 7
New York Times 20 38 21 21=100 707 27
USA Today 17 39 28 15=100 744 23
PEW RESEARCH CENTER July 8-11, 2010. PEW 11a-l, n-o. Figures may not add to 100% because of rounding. Percentages based on those who could rate each organization.
National newspapers fare relatively poorly when it comes to public perceptions of media credibility. Just two-in-ten (20%) of those who offer a rating for the New York Times say they can believe all or most of what it says and just 17% say the same about USA Today.
Those numbers have fluctuated only slightly since 2004. Local daily news newspapers are seen in largely the same way (21% get the highest credibility rating).
Majorities give each of the news organizations included on the survey a credibility rating of three or four on the four-point scale. Relatively small percentages give the
organizations a one – meaning they can believe “almost nothing” of what the news organization reports.
Believability Trends
Believe “all or most” of what organization says…
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
% % % % % % %
60 Minutes 35 34 34 33 27 29 33
Local TV news 34 33 27 25 23 28 29
CNN 42 39 37 32 28 30 29
NPR 19 25 23 23 22 27 28
Fox News -- 26 24 25 25 23 27
Wall Street Journal 41 41 33 24 26 25 25
C-SPAN 32 33 30 27 25 26 23
MSNBC -- 28 28 22 21 24 22
ABC News 30 30 24 24 22 24 21
CBS News 28 29 26 24 22 22 21
Your daily newspaper 29 25 21 19 19 22 21
NBC News 30 29 25 24 23 24 20
New York Times -- -- -- 21 20 18 20
USA Today 23 23 19 19 18 16 17
PEW RESEARCH CENTER July 8-11, 2010. PEW 11a-l, n-o. Percentages based on those who could rate each organization.
Partisan Gaps in Credibility Ratings
Republicans have long viewed the overall media more skeptically than Democrats and this continues to be reflected in credibility ratings for individual news outlets.
Republicans express far less confidence than Democrats in most major outlets. The Fox News Channel stands out as the only news organization that more Republicans than Democrats view as highly credible.
Democrats are at least twice as likely as Republicans to give the highest believability ratings to CNN, NPR, MSNBC and the New York Times.
About four-in-ten (41%) Republicans say they believe all or most of what the Fox News Channel says, by far the highest believability rating offered by Republicans. By contrast, 21%
of Democrats give a believability rating of four to Fox News, among the lowest rating given by Democrats to any outlet.
Local TV news, the Wall Street Journal, and USA Today receive about the same ratings from Republicans and Democrats. For example, 28% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats say they believe all or most of what the Wall Street Journal says.
Partisanship and Credibility
Believe “all or most”
of what org. says…
Rep Dem Ind R-D gap
% % % %
CNN 19 40 26 -21
NPR 16 37 29 -21
MSNBC 13 34 17 -21
60 Minutes 25 42 31 -17
New York Times 14 31 16 -17
C-SPAN 16 31 22 -15
NBC News 17 30 12 -13
CBS News 16 29 16 -13
ABC News 16 28 15 -12
Your daily
newspaper 18 27 17 -9
Local TV News 27 33 25 -6
Wall Street Journal 28 33 19 -5
USA Today 16 20 13 -4
Fox News 41 21 22 +20
PEW RESEARCH CENTER July 8-11, 2010. PEW 11a-l, n-o.
Percentages based on those who could rate each organization.
Widening Gaps in Credibility Ratings of Cable News Channels
In recent years, the divides between Democrats and Republicans have grown in judging the credibility of the cable news outlets. In 2000, about equal percentages of each said they could believe all or most of what Fox News said (26% Republicans, 27%
Democrats). Since then time, Fox News’ credibility rating among Republicans has increased (now 41%). As a result, there is now a 20-point partisan gap in Fox News’
credibility ratings.
News Media Credibility Ratings by Party, 2000-2010
---Republicans--- ---Democrats--- R-D Gap Believe all or
most from...
00 02 04 06 08 10 00 02 04 06 08 10 04 06 08 10
% % % % % % % % % % % %
CNN 33 32 26 22 22 19 48 45 45 32 35 40 -19 -10 -13 -21 NPR 20 16 15 15 18 16 36 24 33 30 37 37 -18 -15 -19 -21 MSNBC 24 22 14 18 18 13 36 30 29 25 29 34 -15 -7 -11 -21 60 Minutes -- 23 25 20 24 25 -- 45 42 32 37 42 -17 -12 -13 -17 NY Times -- -- 14 16 10 14 -- -- 31 23 24 31 -17 -7 -14 -17 C-SPAN 32 27 23 21 17 16 38 31 36 28 31 31 -13 -7 -14 -15 NBC News 29 19 16 19 16 17 37 31 29 26 31 30 -13 -7 -15 -13 CBS News 27 17 15 15 18 16 36 33 34 26 26 29 -19 -11 -8 -13 ABC News 25 17 17 18 19 16 37 31 35 27 28 28 -18 -9 -9 -12 Your daily
newspaper 21 18 16 12 19 18 31 28 23 26 29 27 -7 -14 -10 -9 Local TV News -- 26 21 17 27 27 -- 31 29 28 32 33 -8 -11 -5 -6 Wall St. Journal 46 35 23 29 29 28 40 29 29 26 24 33 -6 +3 +5 -5 USA Today -- 13 14 15 16 16 -- 22 25 22 15 20 -11 -7 -1 -4 Fox News 26 28 29 32 34 41 27 27 24 22 19 21 +5 +10 +15 +20 PEW RESEARCH CENTER July 8-11, 2010. PEW 11a-l, n-o. Percentages based on those who could rate each organization.
Republican credibility ratings for MSNBC have fallen over the past decade, from 24% in 2000 to 13% today. Democrats’ ratings have changed little over this period (now 34%).
As a result, partisan differences over MSNBC’s credibility (21 points) are as large as those over Fox News.
Similarly, there is sizable partisan divide in perceptions of CNN’s credibility; 19% of Republicans say they believe all or most of what they see or hear on CNN, compared with 40% of Democrats.