This article is the first article in a three-part series. Read the second article here and the third article here.
The American public’s trust in institutions continues to erode — particularly confidence in organizations that provide news and information. Yet, a new study from Gallup and Knight Foundation finds that many Americans turn to individuals with public platforms for information and place a great deal of trust in these individuals.
According to Gallup trends, average confidence in institutions, including business, religion, the U.S. court system and schools, dropped to the lowest on record in 2022. More Americans reported no confidence at all in the news media than any or even little confidence for the first time in 2022 after 50 years of tracking. A recent Gallup/Knight report shows this distrust runs deep — many Americans feel national news organizations intend to mislead or persuade the public and do not care about their audiences. In that same study, Gallup and Knight Foundation found that about two in five Americans believe official government accounts of events can’t be trusted (43%) and that the opinion of ordinary people is worth more than that of experts or politicians (40%).
