Raleigh, N.C. –
PPP’s annual poll on TV news finds that there’s only one source more Americans
trust than distrust: PBS. 52% of voters say they trust PBS to only 29% who don’t
trust it. The other seven outlets we polled on are all distrusted by a
plurality of voters.
Just like its actual ratings, Fox News has hit a record low in the four
years that we’ve been doing this poll. 41% of voters trust it to 46% who do
not. To put those numbers into some perspective the first time we did this
poll, in 2010, 49% of voters trusted it to 37% who did not.
We find once again this year that Democrats trust everything except Fox, and
Republicans don’t trust anything other than Fox. Democrats put the most faith
in PBS (+61 at 72/11), followed by NBC (+45 at 61/16), MSNBC (+39 at 58/19),
CBS (+38 at 54/16), CNN (+36 at 57/21), ABC (+35 at 51/16), and Comedy Central
(+10 at 38/28). Out of the non-Fox channels Republicans have the most faith in PBS
at -21 (27/48), followed by NBC (-48 at 18/66), CNN (-49 at 17/66), ABC
(-56 at 14/70), MSNBC (-56 at 12/68), CBS (-57 at 15/72), and Comedy Central
(-58 at 8/66).
“We continue to find that Democrats trust most tv news sources other than
Fox, while Republicans don’t trust anything except Fox,” said Dean Debnam,
President of Public Policy Polling. “News preferences are very polarizing along
party lines.”
When it comes to asking Americans which single outlet they trust the most
and least out of the ones we polled on, Fox News once again wins both honors.
34% say it’s the one they trust the most, compared to 13% for PBS, 12% for CNN,
11% for ABC, 8% for MSNBC, 6% for CBS, and 5% each for Comedy Central and NBC.
Even more Americans identify Fox News as the outlet they trust the least-
39% give its that designation to 14% for MSNBC, 13% for CNN, 12% for Comedy
Central, 5% for ABC and CBS, 3% for NBC, and 1% for PBS.
PPP surveyed 800
voters nationally from January 31st to February 3rd. The margin of
error for the survey is +/-3.5%. This poll was not
paid for or authorized by any campaign or political organization. PPP surveys
are conducted through automated telephone interviews.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you trust ABC News, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 32%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 26%
Q2 Do you trust CBS News, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 34%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 23%
Q3 Do you trust CNN, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 38%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 43%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 20%
Q4 Do you trust Comedy Central, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 26%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 28%
Q5 Do you trust Fox News, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 41%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 46%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 13%
Q6 Do you trust MSNBC, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 35%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 44%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 21%
Q7 Do you trust NBC News, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 39%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 42%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q8 Do you trust PBS, or not?
Trust it ……………………………………………………. 52%
Do not trust it ………………………………………….. 29%
Not sure …………………………………………………. 19%
Q9 Which TV news outlet do you trust the most:
ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Comedy Central,
Fox News, MSNBC, NBC News, or PBS?
ABC ………………………………………………………. 11%
CBS ………………………………………………………. 6%
CNN………………………………………………………. 12%
Comedy Central………………………………………. 5%
Fox………………………………………………………… 34%
MSNBC………………………………………………….. 8%
NBC………………………………………………………. 5%
PBS ………………………………………………………. 13%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 7%
Q10 Working from the same list of choices, which
TV news outlet do you trust the least?
ABC ………………………………………………………. 5%
CBS ………………………………………………………. 5%
CNN………………………………………………………. 13%
Comedy Central………………………………………. 12%
Fox………………………………………………………… 39%
MSNBC………………………………………………….. 14%
NBC………………………………………………………. 3%
PBS ………………………………………………………. 1%
Someone else/Not sure ……………………………. 9%
Q11 In the last presidential election, did you vote for
Barack Obama or Mitt Romney?
Barack Obama………………………………………… 51%
Mitt Romney……………………………………………. 43%
Someone else/Don’t remember …………………. 6%
Q12 Would you describe yourself as very liberal,
somewhat liberal, moderate, somewhat
conservative, or very conservative?
Very liberal ……………………………………………… 11%
Somewhat liberal …………………………………….. 19%
Moderate………………………………………………… 28%
Somewhat conservative……………………………. 25%
Very conservative ……………………………………. 18%
Q13 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 51%
Man……………………………………………………….. 49%
Q14 If you are a Democrat, press 1. If a Republican,
press 2. If you are an independent or identify
with another party, press 3.
Democrat ……………………………………………….. 42%
Republican……………………………………………… 33%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 25%
Q15 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 10%
White …………………………………………………….. 72%
African-American …………………………………….. 11%
Other……………………………………………………… 7%
Q16 If you are 18 to 29 years old, press 1. If 30 to
45, press 2. If 46 to 65, press 3. If you are
older than 65, press 4.
18 to 29………………………………………………….. 14%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 26%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 40%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 20%