News organizations have trust issues as they gear up to cover another election, a poll finds
NEW YORK — Even though many Americans say they learned about the 2024 election campaign from national news media, a troubling poll reveals some serious trust issues.
About half of Americans, 53%, say they are extremely or very concerned that news organizations will report inaccuracies or misinformation during the election. About 42% worry that news media will use generative artificial intelligence to create stories, according to a poll by the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The poll found that 47% of Americans also expressed serious concerns that news media would report information that has not been confirmed or verified, and 44% worry that accurate information will be presented in a way that favors one or the other side favors.
Half of Americans say they always or regularly receive election news from national news outlets, a percentage that is higher among older respondents, the poll found.
“The level of engagement is good,” said Michael Bolden, CEO of the American Press Institute. “The most worrying thing is that they’re not sure if they can actually trust the information.”
Years of suspicion of journalists, much of it sown by politicians, is partly responsible, he said. People are also less familiar with how journalism works. The poll found that about half of respondents say they have at least a moderate degree of confidence in the information they receive from national or local news outlets when it comes to the 2024 election, although only about 1 in 10 says they have a lot of confidence in it. to trust.
“There may have been a time when people knew a journalist because one lived in their neighborhood,” Bolden says. “The way the industry has been decimated is much less likely.”
Simply getting the news out is often not good enough anymore, he said. There is a growing divide between news organizations and communities that the media must address, letting people know what journalists do and how people who report news are their friends and neighbors, he said.
Outlets must play an organizing role, bringing people together for newsworthy events, he said.
About half of American adults say they are following presidential election news closely, with older adults being more involved. About two-thirds of Americans age 60 or older say they are closely watching news about the presidential election, compared with about a third of Americans under 30.
The same trend can be seen in local and state election news. While the poll found that 46% of Americans age 60 or older say they closely follow local and state election news, only 16% of people ages 18 to 29 said the same.
“Will they worry about that as they get older?” Bolden asked. “If they don’t care, what will that mean for local and state communities?”
Young people under the age of 30 are about as likely to receive election news from social media or from friends or family as from national or local news outlets, the poll found. Black and Latino adults are slightly more likely to express “a lot” of confidence in the reliability of social media as a source of election news than white Americans.
That’s both a warning sign, as there’s a lot more misinformation on social media, and an opportunity for traditional media to make more of their work available in this way, Bolden said.
About six-in-ten Democrats say they receive at least regular election news from national media. That’s more than the 48% of Republicans or 34% of independents, according to the poll. Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to express concern about inaccurate information or misinformation in reporting during the upcoming election. About six in 10 Republicans are concerned about this, compared to about half of Democrats.
In addition to inaccuracies, many also expressed serious concerns about election news that focuses too much on divisions or controversies or focuses on who will win or lose – the horse race aspect of political reporting – rather than issues or the character of candidates.
Most Americans say that to make informed decisions about the 2024 state and local elections, they want national and local news outlets to highlight the candidates’ values or their differing positions on important social issues. In both cases, about three-quarters of American adults say they would like “a lot” or “some” coverage of these topics.
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The survey of 2,468 adults was conducted March 21-25, 2024, using a sample from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
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David Bauder writes about media for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/dbauder.