Who’s more truthful: Trump or the media?
If this isn’t a wakeup call for the media, I don’t know what is.
A Spring 2017 poll from Emerson College shows the nation is split on the job President Trump is doing: 48% of registered voters approve of the job he’s doing, versus the 47% that disapprove. It’s split about the way you’d expect it: Republicans approve of Trump (89% approve vs 5% that don’t) and Democrats disapprove of Trump (81% disapprove vs 17% approve). It’s Independents that tip the scales, who disapprove of Trump 52% vs. 42% that approve.
But here’s the scary part
An industry that has built its reputation on being independent, accurate, and truthful does worse than Trump in the poll.
A key finding of the poll shows that voters find the Trump administration to be more truthful than the news media, according to the survey. The Trump administration is considered truthful by 49% of voters, to 48% of voters who consider it untruthful.
Meanwhile, the news media is considered untruthful by a 53%-majority of voters, to only 39% who find them truthful (a 14-point gap).
Numerous members of the Trump administration — including Trump himself — have been criticized frequently for making false statements. But whether you believe Trump or the media depends on your political affiliation.
The partisan split on this topic is clear — 89% of Republicans find the Trump administration truthful, versus 77% of Democrats who find the administration untruthful. Conversely, 69% of Democrats find the news media truthful, while a whopping 91% of Republicans consider them untruthful.
Independents consider both untruthful — the Trump administration by a margin of 42%/52% and the news media by a margin of 45%/47%.
You can read more on the study results and the methodology here.
