Gap Between Republican, Democrat View Of US Media Widens In Past 5 Years - Poll

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2020) Republican voters in the United States have grown increasingly skeptical of reports on mainstream media in the past five years while trust by Liberals has remained constant and may have increased, a new PEW Research Center poll revealed.

"Overall, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents view many heavily relied on media across a range of platforms as untrustworthy. At the same time, Democrats and independents who lean Democratic see most of those media as credible... according to the survey of 12,043 US adults," a press release summarizing the poll said on Friday.

A comparison to a similar poll by the PEW Research Center of US adults in 2014 finds that Republicans have grown increasingly alienated from most established, corporate-owned media sources, while Democrats' confidence remains stable, and in some cases, has strengthened, the release said.

Apart from party membership or preference, the divides becomes even more pronounced between Republicans who identify as conservative and Democrats who consider themselves liberal, the release added.

Only seven of 30 outlets included in the poll generate more trust than distrust among Republicans - including Fox news and the talk programs of hosts Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, according to the release.

For Democrats, the numbers are nearly reversed. Greater portions of Democrats express trust than express distrust in 22 of the 30 sources asked about. Only eight generate more distrust than trust - including Fox, Hannity and Limbaugh, the release said.