More than three-quarters of American adults say news organizations are biased in reporting news about social and political issues, according to a new survey.
ofinvestigationSeventy-seven percent of Americans believe media organizations are biased, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Tuesday. That's down slightly from early 2020, when 79% of respondents said the same thing, and the highest percentage since Pew started asking this question nearly 40 years ago.
Meanwhile, only 22% of Americans in the latest survey said the media treats all sides fairly.
Perceptions of media bias varied by political party, with Republicans remaining more likely to believe that news coverage favored one side or the other. Nearly nine in 10 Republicans say the news favors one side or the other, compared to 67% of Democrats.
The survey found that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe that media criticism keeps political leaders from doing what they shouldn't do; It was also revealed that 24% of people answered that they do.
These responses also varied by party affiliation, with 81% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying media criticism helps keep political leaders in check, compared to 81% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. 67% responded.
But that latter number has increased significantly since the beginning of President-elect Trump's first term, when about 50% of Republicans said the same.
The Pew Research Center surveyed 9,680 U.S. adults between September 16 and 22. The margin of error is 1.3 percentage points.
