More Than Half of Republicans Still Trust the Mainstream Media

A majority of Republicans still trust mainstream media outlets like ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and even the New York Times, according to a recent Morning Consult poll. Only outlets like MSNBC, the Huffington Post, and Breitbart were not ranked “very credible” or “somewhat credible” by most Republicans.

Naturally, Fox topped the list, with 73 percent of Republicans describing the outlet as very or somewhat credible. The Wall Street Journal ranked second, with 64 percent. Then followed ABC (59 percent), CBS (58 percent), and NBC (57 percent). Majorities of Republicans also trusted the New York Times (52 percent) and CNN (51 percent).

All this despite the New York Times‘ pitiful record — messing up Aleppo twice in an article mocking former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, endorsing Hillary Clinton as “realist” and “bipartisan,” and reporting that Romans 1 calls for the execution of gay people. If you still harbor any doubt about the quality of the mainstream media, consider these 10 #FakeNews stories reported as real.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Democrats were even more in thrall to the mainstream media than Republicans, however. More than three-quarters of them ranked ABC (79 percent), CBS (79 percent), NBC (78 percent), CNN (77 percent), and the New York Times (76 percent) as reliable. Solid majorities also trusted the Wall Street Journal (69 percent), MSNBC (68 percent), NPR (59 percent), and the Huffington Post (59 percent).

Interestingly, almost half of Democrats trusted Fox News (45 percent), although nearly the same amount (47 percent) said that network was “not too credible” or “not at all credible.” This is comparable to Republicans’ reaction to MSNBC. Nearly half (48 percent) of those on the right side of the aisle called MSNBC reliable, while 44 percent said it was not credible.

Both Breitbart and InfoWars received low numbers on each side of the aisle. A mere 17 percent of Democrats called Breitbart reliable, while slightly more Republicans (26 percent) said so. Only 16 percent of Democrats and 20 percent of Republicans said the same of InfoWars.

In a hilarious twist, 18 percent of American adults ranked The Onion — America’s finest satire site not named “The Babylon Bee” — as “very credible” or “somewhat credible.” More Democrats (22 percent) than Republicans (16 percent) trust The Onion.