Gallup/Knight survey: Americans believe media matters, but don't think it's doing its job

Jessica Estepa | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Poll: Americans don't think media is doing its job A new poll reveals what role Americans think the media is playing in the democratic process.

Most Americans believe the media plays an important role in democracy, according to a new survey.

But they don't think the media is actually fulfilling this role.

84% of Americans said they believed the media either had either a "critical" role (44%) or a "very important" role (40%) in democracy, according to a new survey released by Gallup and the Knight Foundation.

That's compared to the 12% of Americans who said it was only "somewhat important" and 3% who said it was "not important."

That belief remained when broken down by political affiliation, though Republicans were more hesitant to say the media was critical:

54% of Democrats said the media was "critical," 36% said it was "very important"

44% of independents said the media was "critical," 36% said it was "very important

33% of Republicans said said it was "critical," and 46% said it was very important.

A plurality of Americans (43%) said the media was doing a poor job of supporting democracy, compared to those who said it was doing "very well" or "well" (28%) or "acceptably (27%).

In this case, Republicans were the most critical of the media today, with 69% saying the media was either "very poorly" or "poorly" supporting democracy. Comparably, 47% of independents and 17% of Democrats held those same beliefs.

"There really is consensus that free media is important," said Sam Gill, Knight’s vice president for communities and impact. "But most people do not believe it is fulfilling its functions."

The release of the survey comes as President Trump continues to regularly slam the media. The president has promised to award "the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year," and plans to do so on Wednesday.

The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018

The survey has also been released as technology companies such as Facebook grapple with the spread of fake news on their networks.

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According to the survey, the negative views of the media didn't stop at whether the industry supported democracy. Per the survey, with a plurality (43%) saying they had an unfavorable opinion of the news media, compared to 33% said they had a favorable view, and 23% who were neutral.

Spielberg: media will 'overcome' current climate Speaking at a press conference in Paris, "The Post" (released as "Pentagon Papers" in France) director Steven Spielberg and stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks discuss "presidents declaring war on the news media." (Jan. 15)

Broken down political party, and Republicans continued to be the most wary of the media:

68% of Republicans had an unfavorable view of the news media, compared to 15% who had a favorable view and 16% who were neutral

48% of independents had an unfavorable view of the news media, compared to 25% who had a favorable view and 25% who were neutral

18% of Democrats had an unfavorable view of the news media, compared to 54% who had a favorable view and 26% who who were neutral

Brandon Busteed of Gallup's government division noted that young people were more the most negative about the media, with only 22% of people ages 18 to 29 saying the media was doing "very well" or "well" at supporting democracy. (Compare that to 26% of people ages 30 to 49, 30% of people ages 50 to 64 and 35% of people ages 65 or older who held that same belief.)

But Busteed said he remains hopeful.

"Everyone will look at pieces of (the survey) and they will play a role" in fixing the situation, he said. "It's not just about pointing fingers."

The survey is based on the responses from more than 19,000 adults ages 18 and older. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

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