Perceived U.S. Media Freedom Hits Historic Low as Trust Remains Fragile

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Perceptions of media freedom in the United States have reached a new low, with 69% of Americans stating that the country’s media enjoy a lot of freedom, according to new survey data from Gallup.

The decline marks a continuation of a downward trend that began after 2022, when 86% of respondents viewed the media as highly free. After falling to 78% in 2023 and experiencing a brief rebound in 2024, perceived media freedom has since resumed its descent.A Growing Partisan Divide

The survey highlights a widening partisan gap regarding media freedom. Ninety-one percent of Republicans believe the U.S. media have a lot of freedom, a figure largely unchanged from 93% in 2025. Conversely, 57% of Democrats share this view—down six percentage points from 63% in 2025. Independents sit between the two groups at 68%.Modest Rebound in Public Trust

Despite dropping freedom perceptions, overall trust and confidence in mass media to report news “fully, accurately and fairly” experienced a slight uptick. Thirty-three percent of Americans express a great deal or fair amount of trust, up five percentage points from the record low of 28% recorded in 2025. The remaining public is split equally, with one-third expressing “not much” trust and another third reporting “no trust”. Media trust remains far below its historic peak of 72% in 1976 and has not reached 50% since a brief return in 2005.

The shift in trust was primarily driven by Republicans, whose trust in mass media rose to 22%—up from 8% in 2025 and marking their highest rating since 2015. Trust among Democrats (50%) and independents (31%) remained statistically unchanged.Low Confidence Relative to Other Institutions

Despite the slight gain in overall trust, news media organizations continue to rank near the bottom for public confidence among major American institutions. Just 17% of Americans express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers, while 14% say the same about television news. Among evaluated institutions, newspapers and television news rank above only Congress (9%), while small business leads with 67% public confidence.

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DUSABEMUNGU Ange de la Victoire

Award-winning journalist and communications professional, recognized with the APO Group’s inaugural Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Journalism Award for promoting African entrepreneurship. Content Manager at Top Africa News and contributor to various African media outlets. Experienced in content creation, digital media, communications, and digital marketing, with a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Journalism from the National University of Rwanda. Also specializes in website design, management, hosting, and content development.

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