Trust in National and Local News Media Declines Among Americans: Pew Survey

TL/DR –

The trust of American adults in information from national and local news organizations has declined, according to a survey by Pew Research Center. This includes a drop from 80% in March 2025 to 70% in trust for local news and from 67% to 56% for national news, impacting both major political parties across all age groups. Among Republicans, trust in national news fell from 53% to 44% and local news from 75% to 64%, while among Democrats it dropped from 81% to 69% for national news and 87% to 78% for local news.

Declining Trust in US News Organizations

Trust in information from national and local news organizations among Americans has dipped again, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. The decline is evident across all age groups and both major political parties.

Currently, 56% of US adults trust information from national news organizations, down 11% since March 2025. Local news organizations still hold more trust at 70%, however, this too has fallen from 82% in 2016 and 80% in March.

Less than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (44%) trust information from national news organizations, dropping from 70% in 2016 and 53% in March. Meanwhile, 64% of Republicans still trust local news organizations, down from 79% in 2016 and 75% in March.

Democrats, while still more likely to trust news organizations than Republicans, also saw a decline in trust. Now only 69% trust national news organizations, down from 81% in March, and 78% trust local news organizations, down from 87% earlier in the year.

Both Republicans and Democrats reported equal levels of trust (37%) in information derived from social media sites, with Republicans experiencing an 8% decrease from earlier in the year.

Trust Declines Across All Age Groups

Trust in national and local news media has decreased among all age groups, with under 50s slightly less likely to trust these sources. About half (52%) of adults under 50 trust national news media, with those under 30 equally likely to trust national news organizations (51%) and social media (50%).

Differences in Trust Among Democrats by Age

Trust in national and local news organizations varies by party and age, particularly among Democrats. While 79% of Democrats aged 65 and older trust national news organizations, this figure decreases with each younger age group, reaching 61% among Democrats under 30. Similar patterns were observed for trust in local news organizations.

Among Republicans, age differences were less prominent, with half of Republicans aged 65 and older trusting national news media compared to 42% of Republicans aged 18 to 29.

This is an update of an analysis originally published on Oct. 27, 2022. Here are the questions used, along with responses, and its methodology.

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