Cable news is in desperate need of viewers. Because of a lack of trust or because the news is too depressing, Americans have begun to avoid it completely.
Trust in the U.S. media is in free fall. It is true for both the traditional and alternative media.
The I&I/TIPP Traditional Media Trust Index has declined 16% over the past eight months. The index dropped 0.7 points or 1.6%, from 43.7 in September to 43.0 in October.
The I&I/TIPP Alternative Media Trust Index has declined 18% over the past eight months. The index declined 3.5 points or 8.7%, from 40.2 in September to 36.7 in October.
TechnoMetrica started tracking the media in March of this year. To enable easy comparison over time, we have converted percentages to a compact index. The indexes range from 0 to 100. Above 50 is the trust territory, and below 50 is lack of trust. 50 is neutral.
Relevance
According to a recent survey conducted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford, among 92,000 news consumers in 46 countries, the United States ranked last in terms of media trust at 29%. Finland received the highest level of trust in the study, at 65%. The United States performed worse than Poland, the Philippines, and Peru.
Here are the trust levels for G-20 countries included in the survey.
