Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Pew: 65% of Americans Don’t Trust Media



Pew: 65% of Americans Don’t Trust Media
by William Bigelow 23 Nov 2015
A national survey by Pew Research Center reveals how distrustful the American public feels about the media; 65 percent say the national news media impacts the country negatively.

Among conservative Republicans and Republican leaners, a whopping 82 percent say the national news media has a negative impact.

Americans simply don’t trust the federal government—only 19 percent believe they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right, with a paltry 3 percent qualifying that statement as “just about always” and 16 percent specifying, “most of the time.”

A twenty-two-point rise has occurred among Americans saying the government needs “very major reform,” from 37 percent in 1997 to 59 percent today. 32 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents feel anger toward the government; only 12 percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners agree. 25 percent of whites feel anger at the feds; 17 percent of Hispanics and 12 percent of blacks agree.

Interestingly, Pew omitted the president personally when asking what Americans were angry at, though the survey included Congress. The survey only mentioned Barack Obama when linked with the leftist agenda. Unsurprisingly, among the Republicans angry at government, 64 percent saw Donald Trump favorably; Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97%, Ben Carson, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 80% also garnered more support from “angry” voters than non-angry voters.

53 percent of respondents want a smaller government with fewer services, while 38 percent desire a bigger government with more services. 87 percent of conservative GOPers prefer a smaller government, 67 percent of liberal Democrats want a bigger government with more services.

89 percent of Republicans distrust the government, and 72 percent of Democrats agree. On average, 13 percent of Republicans have said, during Obama’s tenure, that they can trust the government, the lowest level of average trust among either party during any administration dating back 40 years.

A huge disparity was found that clearly indicates what the Republican Party needs to focus on in 2016: 94 percent of respondents want the federal government to protect them from terror, while only 61 percent of respondents want the federal government to ensure access to health care and 55 percent want it to help people get out of poverty. According to NBC/WSJ polls over the last 15 years, the GOP has been trusted far more on national security than Democrats. The disparity has looked like this:

September 2014 R-54, D-16
February 2013 R-45, D-19
June 2006 R-42, D-18
November 2005 R-43, D-22
January 2004 R-53, D-16
December 13, 2003 R-54, D-18
June 2002 R-50, D-11
June 2001 R-55, D- 14
December 1999 R- 46, D-18

Considering that the American public traditionally trusts the GOP mire on defense and security issues, the party would do well to focus on guns, not butter.

Pew Research Center
Pew Charitable Trusts sponsors the Pew Research Center (think tank), a funder for the New America Foundation, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  

Note: Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Economic Policy Institute, the New America Foundation, and the Sundance Institute.
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is Jonathan Soros’s father.
National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is a paid for staff by the Economic Policy Institute, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
The Hijacked Commission
 NOV. 11, 2010
Count me among those who always believed that President Obama made a big mistake when he created the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform — a supposedly bipartisan panel charged with coming up with solutions to the nation’s long-run fiscal problems.
Paul Ryan is a member of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, and a member & speaker for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jonathan Soros is George Soros’s son, and a director at the New America Foundation.
Joe Mathews was a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, and a reporter for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
New America Foundation houses the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Pew Charitable Trusts was a funder for the New America Foundation, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and sponsors the Pew Research Center (think tank).
Henry W. McGee is a governing board member for the Pew Research Center (think tank), and was a trustee at the Sundance Institute.
Robert Redford is the founder & president of the Sundance Institute, and a partner with the Sundance Channel.
Sundance Channel is a media company, a partner with CBS, and a partner with NBCUniversal.
Hulu, LLC is a subsidiary, content provider for NBCUniversal, a content provider for the Sundance Channel, and CNET.  
CBS acquired CNET. 
Mark Rosenthal was a director at CNET, and is a trustee at the Public Theater.
Henry W. McGee was a trustee at the Public Theater, a trustee at the Sundance Institute, and is a governing board member for the Pew Research Center (think tank).
Pew Charitable Trusts sponsors the Pew Research Center (think tank), a funder for the New America Foundation, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.  
Faith Elizabeth Gay is a trustee at the Public Theater, and was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP. 
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

No comments: