A new Gallup/Knight Foundation survey of 19,196 American adults is the latest poll to show, as it summarized so well, that "media trust in the U.S. has been eroding, making it harder for the news media to fulfill their democratic responsibilities of informing the public and holding government leaders accountable." One central finding is that Americans believe the media have an important role to play in democracy, mainly in terms of informing the public, yet they do not believe the media fulfills that role.
There are many reasons for this, starting with the twin erosion of newsrooms and faith in them. When the Los Angeles Times reported Monday that dozens of layoffs are expected at the California newspapers owned by Digital First Media, one detail stood out: The San Jose Mercury News newsroom, which covers one of the world's biggest wealth generators in Silicon Valley, has shrunk from 440 to just 39 union staffers and some non-union staffers. That's stunning. As is having a U.S. president who attacks the media so often and so vociferously.
Against this backdrop, impassioned support for the media from Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, in an op-ed in The Washington Post and in a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate, respectively, was welcome Wednesday.
These are rough times for the U.S. media, but we vow to keep working to earn your business and trust.
