'Fake News' Fears: 95% of Americans 'Troubled' by Current State of Media, Poll Finds

Nearly all Americans are “troubled” by the state of the media, according to a new study from boutique PR agency, Bospar, in collaboration with Propeller Insights.

The survey of 1,010 American adults found that more than 95% are troubled by the current state of media, with 53% citing “reports on fake news,” 49% citing “reporting gossip,” and 48% citing “lying spokespeople,” as the key causes.

Other factors ranging from “celebrity opinions” to left- and right-wing agendas to the possible reporting of “blind items” in the news also spark concern.

Also Read: Trump Blames Media for Nation's 'Anger and Rage' Ahead of Speech on Mass Shootings

Of the respondents, 67% believe ethics in journalism will be worse during the 2020 presidential campaign, while 40% of those surveyed considered local print and online journalists as the most ethical and 23% considered local TV reporters and anchors most ethical. National print and online journalists are considered the most trustworthy by 22%, while only 15% said national TV anchors and reporters were the most ethical.

Also Read: Consumer Trust in Facebook Nosedives After Cambridge Analytica Scandal

Notably these results were released the week before Bospar is set to host its Ethics in Media Panel with the San Francisco Chapter of Public Relations Society of America and the San Francisco Press Club.

“If ever there was a time for an in-depth discussion about ethics in the media, it’s now,” James Ennis Kirkland, president of the San Francisco Press Club, said according to a release from Bospar.

Also Read: British Media Outlets Most Trusted US News Sources in New Poll

Media-trust polling isn’t new. In May, the Trump Make America Great Again Committee launched a “mainstream media accountability survey” into inboxes around the country. The effort was a joint project paid for by the Donald Trump presidential campaign and the Republican National committee.

“The media loves to pretend they’re unbiased, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” an email promoting the survey read. “Liberal propaganda machines have used every possible tactic to slander, undermine, and insult the President as he fights to put AMERICA FIRST.”

10 Times Donald Trump Shared Fake News (Photos)

Donald Trump is the country's most prominent spreader of fake news. Here are ten unquestionably fake news stories he has shared.
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In 2009, Trump helped create fake news when the USA Network and WWE falsely reported that Trump was planning to buy "Monday Night RAW." It turned out that it was all part of a wrestling storyline.
Trump spent years demanding that President Obama produce his birth certificate and other papers in response to false e-mails that Obama was a Kenyan-born Muslim. He finally admitted Obama was born in this country in September, then accused Hillary Clinton of starting the lies about Obama.
In December 2011, Trump said President Obama "issued a statement for Kwanza but failed to issue one for Christmas." That was provably false. (This photo is from 2014.)
Trump said in 2015 that "thousands and thousands of people were cheering" in Jersey City, N.J. when the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2011. Although some radio stations and websites reported celebrations in nearby Paterson, N.J., the city denied the reports.
In February 2016, Trump entertained conspiracy theories that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was murdered when he said he was found with "a pillow on his face." Alex Jones' InfoWars had earlier reported on suggestions Scalia was killed. But the owner of the ranch where Scalia died later clarified that he did not have a pillow over his face.
In June 2016, Trump tweeted a photo that purported to show a family of African-Americans who supported him. But they told BuzzFeed they definitely did not.
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In another case of Trump creating the fake news, he scored 22,000 retweets on Election Day by posting, "Just out according to @CNN: 'Utah officials report voting machine problems across entire country.'" But it was just one county. No R.
On Nov. 10, Trump tweeted that post-Election Day protestors were “professional,” but a professional fake-news writer, Paul Horner, admitted that he had invented a story about protesters being paid.

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After saying for months before election day that the vote would be rigged, Trump won. He subsequently said “million of people” voted illegally. A guy on Twitter who had tweeted that 3 million voted illegally declined to provide any source. Trump has continued to make baseless claims about millions of illegal voters since he took office.
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Let's give credit where its due: On Dec. 6, Trump fired one of his transition team staffers for tweeting a fake news story that led to an armed confrontation in a Washington, DC pizza restaurant. The issue became known as "pizzagate."
On his first full day in office, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency and claimed 1.5 million people attended his inauguration. The New York Times said that photographs "disproved" that number. Vox did a deep dive into why Trump's numbers appeared to be off. And a Texas NHL team, among others, made fun of him.
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