AP admits half of Americans do not trust news organization: Poll

The Associated Press admitted on Wednesday that more than half of the country does not trust mainstream news outlets when it comes to reporting on the 2024 presidential election.

A new poll revealed that 53% of respondents are "extremely" or "very concerned" that news organizations will report inaccuracies or misinformation during the election, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.

Nearly half of the respondents (47%) also revealed they are "extremely or very concerned" that the news outlets will not verify or fact-check information before they publish it, and 44% are concerned that the news will be presented in a biased way. 

“The level of engagement is good,” Michael Bolden, CEO of the American Press Institute which helped with the poll, told the AP. “The thing that’s most concerning is that they’re not sure they can actually trust the information.”

The poll also revealed that more older adults who are at least in their 60s get their news from formal publications, compared to young adults who are just as likely to get their news from social media or friends than from news outlets.

When it comes to the presidential election, older adults tend to be more engaged, the poll said. Only one third of adults under 30 are following the presidential election, while two thirds of older adults are. On the local and state level, the numbers trend the same way. Nearly half of older respondents claim they monitor news about local and state elections closely, but 16% of adults 18-29 say the same.

“As they transition to becoming older people, will they begin to care?” Bolden asked. “If they don’t begin to care, what will that mean for local and state communities?”

The respondents also showed concern on the type of coverage being reported, with many claiming they were concerned the coverage would be too heavily focused on topics that were controversial and dividing, or on who wins and loses, instead of the issues and character of the candidates.

The poll was conducted from March 21-25, 2024, and polled 2,468 adults nationwide. The poll's margin of error is +/- 2.9%.