Study finds little agreement between Republicans and Democrats on media sources they trust
A new survey that probes the level of trust Democrats and Republicans have for news sources finds the business-oriented publications Forbes and The Wall Street Journal share an unusual distinction: They're the only two of 30 news sources that sympathizers for both parties told the Pew Research Center they're more likely to trust than distrust.
Pew's survey, released Tuesday, illustrates how the country's political polarization has members of both parties in different media silos. Democrats trust more news sources than Republicans, and rarely do their tastes intersect.
Of 30 news sources tested, people who said they were Republican or leaned Republican were more likely to say they trust eight of them. Democrats had more trust than distrust for 23 different sources. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal were the only two on both lists.
There were only two news sources tested that more than three in 10 Republicans said they were likely to trust — Fox News Channel, with 56%, and the Joe Rogan podcast, with 31%.
Meanwhile, 13 of the sources had trust levels of more than 30% among Democrats — the three broadcast news divisions, PBS, CNN, BBC, The New York Times, The Associated Press, MSNBC, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.
Rogan's podcast illustrated some of the sharp differences between the parties and why President Donald Trump's interview there proved influential during the last election. Forty percent of Democrats said they distrust Rogan's show as a source, while only 3% of Democrats trust it as a news source. Others said they didn't know enough about the show to offer an opinion.
Nearly two of three Democrats said they distrust Fox News, but 19% said they trust it. Among Republicans, 21% said they distrust Fox.
The survey finds that 23% of Republicans said they trust PBS, while 26% distrust PBS. Democrats trust PBS by a 59% to 4% margin.
Trump, a Republican, is trying to eliminate most government spending for PBS, arguing that its news content shows a liberal bias. Pew's survey indicates Republicans are fairly evenly divided on that question.
That's not the case for NPR, which is also on Trump's chopping block. Pew finds that more than twice as many Republicans distrust NPR than trust it, while Democrats trust NPR by a 47% to 3% margin.
'It's still a very polarized media ecosystem,' said Elisa Shearer, a senior researcher at Pew. 'It's too early to tell if there will be changes in the future.'
A separate Pew survey from March found that 53% of Republicans expressed at least some trust in the information they get from national news organizations, up from 40% only six months earlier. But Shearer said it was tough to tell how much of that increase simply had to do with a new Republican administration taking charge.
For the survey released on Tuesday, Pew said it questioned 9,482 U.S. adults in mid-March.
PBS says Trump's effort to rescind funding for public media would disrupt an essential service provided to the American people.
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David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
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Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Several anti-Trump ‘No Kings Day' rallies planned in WV this weekend
Hundreds showed up to the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston on Saturday, April 5, 2025, to take part in a nationwide Hands Off rally to protest the actions of the Trump administration. (Zachary Hiser | West Virginia Watch) As the nation's capitol prepares for a massive military parade to mark the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary and President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, organizers in several West Virginia cities are planning to mark the day with anti-Trump protests. 'No Kings Day of Action' rallies are planned for cities around the country, including Berkeley Springs, Bluefield, Buckhannon, Charleston, Elkins, Huntington and others. The events are in response to what the organization calls 'increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption' from the president and allies. 'In America, we don't do kings,' reads a statement on the website for a grassroots organization made up of hundreds of local groups. 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So our theme for this [rally] is 'No Kings,' but we are taking that and extending it to just to… 'No kings, just community.' Huntington's event will include speakers, music, guided meditation for kids, bystander and Narcan training as well as a goods drive for Lily's Place, Harmony House and the local city mission, she said. 'We want to have a good time with our community, and we want to show our neighbors, especially even the ones that don't feel safe coming to events like this, so people who are minorities or noncitizens, that we're thinking of them,' Waldeck said. She added that everyone is welcome at the nonpartisan, nonviolent protest event 'as long as they adhere to the ground rules of no racism, no homophobia and transphobia.' Debra Kilgore of Mercer County Indivisible, is helping organize the event in Bluefield. 'I couldn't stay silent any longer,' Kilgore said of her reasons for protesting. 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I'm not in D.C., but when you have somebody threatening a first right, First Amendment right, which is a right to peaceful protest, there's a problem.' Stemple said Saturday's event will be the Elkins community eighth anti-Trump and 'pro-Democracy' rally. At each one, they've also collected donations for community needs like flood relief for Southern West Virginia or contributions to the local food pantry, she said. 'We are trying to do something good most every time that we hold one of these — and I call it a celebration,' she said. 'We become friends [and] allies just standing up for our country and enjoying the time together.' 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Forbes
23 minutes ago
- Forbes
Do You Need An Accountant For Your Small Business?
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More from AllBusiness: In conclusion, hiring an accountant as soon as possible is one of the smartest investments a small business owner can make. An accountant brings expertise, efficiency, and strategic value to your business, helping you avoid mistakes, save money, and achieve your goals. Rather than viewing your accountant as an expense, consider him or her a partnership that empowers you to build a stronger, more resilient, and more successful business from day one. You own your business; the buck stops with you. Never take anyone's advice at face value, regardless of how pitifully you stack up in terms of time in the trenches. You believed in yourself enough to risk everything for a dream—honor that trust by seeking a wide range of opinions before making momentous decisions.
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28 minutes ago
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