Newsy and Ipsos poll finds Americans are turning off news because of bias
Two-thirds of Americans say there aren’t enough options for unbiased reporting
Most Americans (65%) say that there aren’t enough options for unbiased news coverage, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Newsy. A similar number (67%) report turning off news programs entirely because they perceived them to be too biased.
While the majority of Americans (55%) say it is impossible for media outlets to be completely unbiased in their reporting, more than three-quarters (78%) say it is never acceptable for news organizations to favor one political party when reporting the news.
“There is a deep skepticism, particularly among younger Americans, regarding the media’s ability to report on political events in an unbiased way,” said Mallory Newall, research director at Ipsos. “Two-thirds have turned off or tuned out news due to frustration about bias, and there is clearly an appetite for unbiased reporting right now.”
In fact, the poll revealed less than half of Americans believe newspapers (42%) and broadcast news (41%) report on political issues fairly. And even fewer believe online news (32%), cable news (31%) and news streaming services (31%) are fair in their political reporting.
“The data is clear — and it doesn’t matter which side of the industry you’re on — Americans are calling on the news media to do better,” said Blake Sabatinelli, CEO for Newsy. “Journalism plays a fundamental role in shaping a healthy democracy and to be effective, objectivity must be our guiding principle. As an industry, we need to hold ourselves to higher standards to combat news fatigue and the diminishing trust we’re seeing in this poll and others.”
The full report and findings are available at Ipsos.com. Newsy is a wholly owned subsidiary of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP).
About the Study:
Ipsos, the world’s third largest market research company, conducted the poll on behalf of Newsy between July 12–15, 2019. For this survey, a sample of 2,034 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii was interviewed online in English. The sample includes 1,024 Democrats, 917 Republicans, 56 Independents, and 645 millennial/Gen Z individuals.
The study was conducted online in Ipsos’s Omnibus using the web-enabled “KnowledgePanel,” a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the US general population, not just the online population. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points for all respondents.
About Newsy
Newsy is leading cross-platform television news network that provides “news with the why,” built to inform and engage by delivering the top stories across every platform. Its content is available on cable; on over-the-top services including Hulu, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Sling TV, Pluto TV, and Google Chromecast; and on connected television including Xumo. Newsy is also available via its mobile apps and at newsy.com.
Media Contact:
Kari Wethington, The E.W. Scripps Company, 513–977–3763, kari.wethington@scripps.com
