More than 75% of Americans believe mainstream media's primary goal is advancing own agenda

The Trafalgar Group poll demonstrates declining trust in legacy media institutions
Trump talks with press Nov. 2018

A new poll from the Trafalgar Group and Convention of States Action reveals that 76.3% of Americans believe the mainstream media's primary focus is advancing its own political agenda.

Among Democrats, 62.7% believe "the primary focus of the mainstream media’s coverage of current events is to advance their own opinions or political agenda," while 37.3% believe "finding and reporting the facts" is their primary objective.

Republicans, by a ratio of about nine-to-one, believe the media is primarily focused on advancing its own narrative and political agenda, 76.1% of Independents believe the same. 

President of Convention of States Action Mark Meckler said of the poll's results, "Thanks to the decentralization of the news through the internet and social media, the mainstream press outlets no longer have a monopoly on controlling the news."

"Unfortunately, the mainstream media has been slow to adjust to this reality and don’t seem to realize that the average American can now see in real time the difference between the actual facts of a story versus what the mainstream media says. People are realizing the open bias and partisanship of the press, and it is making them increasingly cynical," he concluded.