US citizens don't trust traditional media, still use them: WashPo
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A recent YouGov study reveals a sharp partisan divide in media trust, with Republicans leaning toward social platforms like X and Truth Social, while Democrats rely on friends and family.
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App logos for Facebook, left, and X are seen on a mobile phone in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP)
While Americans use social media as their main source of news, there is a significant and contradictory distrust in social media, The Washington Post reported, citing YouGov data.
Recent YouGov data highlights a growing divide in media trust between Democrats and Republicans, with more Republicans reporting getting news from social media, while Democrats increasingly rely on friends and family, as WashPo highlighted on Friday.
The study revealed that most popular social media platforms are not considered very trustworthy, with YouTube and LinkedIn being the only exceptions among American adults, as they had a net positive trust rating when subtracting the percentage of distrust from those who expressed trust.
The YouGov study found that Republicans viewed X and Truth Social as more trustworthy than not, while Democrats' trust in X significantly declined, likely influenced by Elon Musk's heightened political visibility and his changes to the platform.
WashPo highlighted that although Americans frequently consume news through social media, they tend to view these platforms as unreliable, and while Democrats generally trust most traditional news outlets, Republicans place greater confidence in sharply partisan sources like Fox News and Newsmax.
The YouGov study found that very few news sources are trusted on the net by both Democrats and Republicans, with the Weather Channel being the most notable exception. However, most social media face distrust among members of both parties
A Partisan divide in trust
Over the past year, Republicans have shown a greater increase in trust toward news sources compared to Democrats, and while the overall shifts in trust between 2024 and 2025 are relatively small, the pattern is still noteworthy, The Washington Post reported.
Republicans saw some of their largest trust increases in news sources like YouTube and X, while Democrats experienced significant declines in trust toward X, Fox Business Network, and The Washington Post.
The Washington Post concluded by highlighting how the YouGov data reinforces a familiar but critical issue: partisan divides in media trust, a divide that figures like Donald Trump and Elon Musk have exploited to strengthen their influence amid widespread skepticism toward unreliable news sources.
