A new survey finds trust in news media is going downhill, notes Grumpy Editor.
First off, for comparison, an older Gallup poll in asking about “the mass media, such as newspapers, TV, and radio” finds while 72 percent of Americans trusted the media in 1976, that went down to 32 percent in 2016.
Newer data comes from Simmons Research which describes itself as a leading source of cross-channel consumer intelligence, measures consumer psychographics, preferences, attitudes and media behaviors.
Simmons two months ago surveyed 2,009 Americans, asking them whether or not they trusted 38 different news organizations.
The chart, below, answers that question.
Leading the list is The Wall Street Journal, grabbing 57.7 percent in trust.
It is followed by ABC News, CBS News, BBC News (getting British into the act), Forbes and NBC News.
At the bottom is Daily Caller, with 22.5 percent.
A gloomy finding by Simmons: 13 percent of Americans say they find none of these news outlets trustworthy.
IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...
OTHERS DO IT, ADMITS N.Y. TIMES. Noted in a much-covered New York Times story, topped with three bylines, on Donald Trump’s wealth as a self-made billionaire — and taxes, or lack of: “The wealthiest Americans rarely pay anthing close to full freight. The Trump tax maneuvers met with little resistance from the IRS, the Times found.”
TOY CHAIN MAY REAPPEAR. Toys R Us, which liquidated its U.S. assets earlier this year, may be making a comeback. An investor group, made up of secured lenders, says its scrapping plans for an auction of the toy outfit, believing it stands a better chance on its investment by reviving the chain.
TRONC BECOMES TRIBUNE AGAIN. Owner of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, New York Daily News and others, is changing its name back to Tribune Publishing Co. from Tronc Inc. effective tomorrow. Tribune switched its 150-year old name in June, 2016, in favor of Tronc, a contraction of Tribune Online Content.
BOOKSELLER MULLS BUYOUT OFFERS. Barnes & Noble’s board of directors is reviewing the bookseller’s future after several parties express interest in acquiring it.
STORM-BATTERED U.S. FLAG SELLS. A U.S. flag, shredded on live television last month as Hurricane Florence hit Wilmington, N.C., is bought at an E Bay auction for $10,900. The unidentified person with the winning bid competed with two dozen others.
AMONG FIRST SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS IN NEW TERM. Missed by media in focusing on other Supreme Court activities is its split over a potential habitat for endangered dusky gopher frogs in Louisiana timberland.
AND ON IT GOES. North Korea warns Washington that ending the Korean War — still open since 1953 — shouldn’t be seen as a bargaining chip in denuclearization talks. Meanwhile, a South Korean official says North Korea is estimated to have up to 60 nuclear weapons.
NAVY SHIP SWITCHES VISIT TO SINGAPORE. The USS Wasp, earlier denied a normally routine Hong Kong port visit by the Chinese in Beijing, makes a stop in Singapore.
AMAZON’S PAY RAISE INCLUDES CATCH. Widely-covered news that Amazon increases its minimum wage to $15 an hour came with a catch: the company is dumping monthly bonuses and stock awards for hourly workers. Meanwhile, Reuters reports FedEx is offering retirement-age pilots between $40,000 and $110,000 to keep flying through the holiday shipping season, rather than retiring, indicating how FedEx is being strained by pilot shortages and rising cargo demand. At the same time, UPS is trying to recruit hundreds more pilots.
CHINA’S POLLUTION TRIGGERS DEATHS. Air pollution in China causes, on average, 1.1 million premature deaths a year, according to a study from the University of Hong Kong, reveals South China Morning Post. Researchers say pollution could be wiping $38 billion from the Chinese economy each year, due to those premature deaths and impacts on food production.
AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY? California Gov. Jerry Brown signs into law making the Golden State first in the nation to require publicly-traded California-based companies to have at least one woman on their boards. The new law will ramp that up to three women by the end of 2021, depending on the board size.
HAT’S OFF NEXT TIME. Television reporter James Bunner, of NBC affiliate KTTC in Austin, Minn., is fired for wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat while covering President Donald Trump's rally in Rochester, Minn.
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