Trust in Media

Biden supporters are more likely than Trump supporters to be confident their news sources will make the right call in announcing a winner. And partisans remain worlds apart on how well the U.S. has controlled the coronavirus outbreak.

A majority (82%) say there are times when it is acceptable for journalists to use anonymous sources, with 67% saying it is acceptable only in special cases.

72% of U.S. adults say news organizations do an insufficient job telling their audiences where their money comes from.

Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say major tech companies favor the views of liberals over conservatives. At the same time, partisans differ on whether social media companies should flag inaccurate information on their platforms.

Most Americans (71%) have heard of a conspiracy theory that alleges that powerful people intentionally planned the coronavirus outbreak.

After three months of news and information, 64% of U.S. adults say the CDC mostly gets the facts about the outbreak right; 30% say the same about President Trump and his administration.

59% of Americans think news organizations do not understand people like them, while a minority – 37% – say they do feel understood.

The gender gap in party identification remains the widest in a quarter century.

Americans’ confidence in checking COVID-19 information aligns closely with their confidence in checking the accuracy of news stories broadly.

People in this group are most likely to say the outbreak has been made too big of a deal and journalists have been exaggerating the risks.