In a Gallup public opinion survey released near the beginning of the coronavirus shutdown, eight of the nine institutions studied received majority positive ratings — led by U.S. hospitals, at 88% approval.
The media ranked dead last in the study of Americans' trust in institutions. Only the media got a more negative than positive review. The finding is part of a decades-long decline in popular trust in the media, Gallup's editor-in-chief Mohamed Younis said Tuesday during a virtual panel organized by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness.
Since 2015, Gallup has tracked an increase in divergence between Republicans and Democrats on their attitudes toward the national media, Younis explained.
The current partisan split is "not surprising," given the contentious relationship President Trump, a Republican, has with the current media, Younis said. Still, the deterioration of trust among Republicans has been persisting for decades.
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