A new Economist / YouGov poll measuring public trust in 22 of the most prominent media organizations in the country is making the rounds. And you’ll not be surprised to learn that the number one takeaway for legacy media is that Americans distrust conservative journalists.
Here is Aaron Blake of the Washington Post:
Whatever you make of its firing decisions or coverage, Fox News is the sole major right-leaning news outlet on television. It is the only outlet in the poll that a majority of Republicans “trust,” at 56 percent. Yet Fox earns a mere +3 score on the poll’s rankings because YouGov slots all outlets by the differential in the percentage of respondents who find it “trustworthy” and “untrustworthy.” So, for instance, 23 percent find The Hill “very” or generally “trustworthy,” while 16 percent find it “very” or generally “untrustworthy.” Its ranking is +7.
But how much does +/- matter?
Fox News, best known for its conservative pundits and commentary — and as of late, the focus of left-wing ire — is sure to generate a stronger negative reaction than, say, ABC or NBC. It is more telling that 38 percent of those polled find Fox News “very” or generally “trustworthy.” CNN is at 39 percent, and MSNBC is at 36. Only 40 percent of respondents believe the Washington Post, an ostensibly unbiased newspaper, is “very” or generally “trustworthy” — a small, probably inconsequential, statistical difference. Today, neither the Post, nor any other once-respected major newspaper, can entice
