Raleigh, N.C. – As its affiliated Republican Party’s fortunes rose in the last year, Fox News’ have declined. In January 2010, PPP showed Fox as by far the news outlet most trusted by American voters. In this month’s poll, Fox is still relied on by more than some other competitors but is far behind PBS, tested for the first time. PBS is the only group trusted by a majority and distrusted by fewer than 40%.
A year ago, Fox’s 49-37 (+12) trust-mistrust margin significantly outpaced ABC’s -15, CBS’ -14, NBC’s -9, and CNN’s -2. In the meantime, all but CNN have boosted their images. Fox now stands at 42-46 (-4), better only than CBS’ -7 and ABC’ s -8, but worse than CNN’s -3, NBC’s 0, and PBS’ 50-30 (+20).
Both moderates (from -15 to -32) and liberals (from -40 to -76) have almost completely abandoned Fox. But it remains the most trusted by any one ideological group (conservatives, at 72-16) of any of the networks except PBS’ 76-11 with liberals. Conservatives only mistrust PBS by a -32 margin, way less than their -49 of NBC, -51 of ABC, -53 of CBS, and -54 of CNN. The narrow moderate plurality (41% to conservatives’ 40%) give PBS a +49, roughly two to three times their +26 for CNN, +24 for NBC, +17 for ABC, and +16 for CBS.
While Republicans have only slightly declined in their esteem of Fox (from 74-15 to 67-22), independents have gone from about even (41-44) to -16, and Democrats’ mistrust has doubled from -22 to -43. PBS is the only channel at all trusted by independents, with a strong 44-32, but they do trust Fox more than ABC (-21) or CBS (-22) and only narrowly less than CNN (-15) or NBC (-14). A year ago, independents disliked most of the networks by around 30-point margins.
“It’s interesting that as cable tv has been taken over more and more by opinion journalism the old network mainstays are seeing an increase in their credibility with the American public,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling.
PPP surveyed 632 American voters from January 14th to 16th. The survey’s margin of error is +/-3.9%. Other factors, such as refusal to be interviewed and weighting, may introduce additional error that is more difficult to quantify.
Complete results are attached, and can be found at www.publicpolicypolling.com.
Topline results are below. Full results, including crosstabs, can be found here.
Q1 Do you trust ABC News or not?
Trust it ………………. 35%
Do not trust it……… 43%
Not sure ……………. 23%
Q2 Do you trust CBS News or not?
Trust it ………………. 36%
Do not trust it……… 43%
Not sure ……………. 21%
Q3 Do you trust CNN or not?
Trust it ………………. 40%
Do not trust it……… 43%
Not sure ……………. 17%
Q4 Do you trust Fox News or not?
Trust it ………………. 42%
Do not trust it……… 46%
Not sure ……………. 12%
Q5 Do you trust NBC News or not?
Trust it ………………. 41%
Do not trust it……… 41%
Not sure ……………. 19%
Q6 Do you trust PBS or not?
Trust it ………………. 50%
Do not trust it……… 30%
Not sure ……………. 20%
Q7 Would you describe yourself as a liberal,
moderate, or conservative?
Liberal ……………………………………………………. 18%
Moderate………………………………………………… 41%
Conservative…………………………………………… 40%
Q8 If you are a woman, press 1. If a man, press 2.
Woman ………………………………………………….. 48%
Man……………………………………………………….. 52%
Q9 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 ……………………………………………….. 40%
Republican……………………………………………… 37%
Independent/Other…………………………………… 23%
Q10 If you are Hispanic, press 1. If white, press 2.
If African-American, press 3. If other, press 4.
Hispanic…………………………………………………. 10%
White …………………………………………………….. 74%
African-American …………………………………….. 12%
Other……………………………………………………… 4%
Q11 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………………………………………………….. 11%
30 to 45………………………………………………….. 27%
46 to 65………………………………………………….. 43%
Older than 65………………………………………….. 19%
