The constant dripping charge that journalists
are enemies of the people may be having an impact.
Only 43% of Americans trust journalists to act in the best interests of the public, while 57% do not, according to a new analysis from the
Pew Research Center.
The latter total includes 40% who have “not too much” confidence, and 17 who lack any. Overall, a mere 6% have a great deal of faith. And 37% have
some.
Journalists have been demonized and even arrested for doing their jobs. They have been insulted in press conferences and even threatened. Still, one wonders if this
poll totally reflects how people feel.
Predictably, trust varies along party lines.
No Republicans and those who lean that way have a great deal of confidence, while 22% have a
fair amount, and 28% have none at all.
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In contrast, 9% of Democrats and people who lean Democratic have very robust trust. Another 52% admit to some. But a mere 6% have no
confidence.
However, Pew reports that “this party gap has persisted over time although it has decreased since 2020.
Pew surveyed 3,560 American Trends
Trust panelists from Dec. 8 to Dec. 14, 2025. It also conducted focus groups with 45 participants. The latter expressed their personal feelings about journalism.
For example, a
Republican woman in her 40s said, “It used to be, as a kid, I could just turn on the news on TV and it’s like everything is believable and credible. But in a world where everything has
become much more biased, and there’s unreliable and biased sources, you have to kind of take things with a grain of salt and look at where is it coming from, and who’s the source, and what
is their main goal?”
At the same time, a female Democrat in her 50s commented, “We don’t have any really good journalists right now that are doing accurate news.”
The Pew report was authored by Kirsten Eddy, a senior researcher focusing on news and information at Pew Research Center.