Consumers Find Their Source Of News Reliable

While Congress has a rock-bottom approval rating, if you were to ask someone to rate their member of Congress, they would likely have a much higher opinion.

In much the same way, a new survey from the Pew Research Center shows while consumers tend to mistrust the news media in general, they are much more approving of their main source of information.

In fact, negative opinions about the performance of news organizations now equal or surpass all-time highs on nine of 12 core measures the Pew Research Center has been tracking since 1985.

Fully 66 percent say news stories often are inaccurate, 77 percent think that news organizations tend to favor one side, and 80 percent say news organizations are often influenced by powerful people and organizations.

Consumers satisfied with their news sources

But Americans have a very different view of the news sources they rely on than they do of the news media generally. When asked to rate the accuracy of stories from the sources where they get most of their news, the percentage saying these outlets get the facts straight more than doubles.

Fully 62 percent say their main news sources get the facts straight, while just 30 percent say stories are often inaccurate.

The biennial news attitudes survey was conducted July 20-24 among 1,501 adults nationwide, with supplemental data collected on other, smaller surveys in June, July and August. These surveys find that while the public holds news organizations in low regard, they are more trusted as a source of information than are federal, state and local governments, the Obama administration and business corporations.

Nearly seven-in-ten say they have a lot or some trust in information they get from local news organizations, while 59 percent say they trust information from national news organizations.

While consumers tend to rely on television for weather and breaking news, the Pew study found that newspapers and web sites are the main source in eleven other information categories. In particular, the survey found younger consumers rely less on television and more on the Internet for local news.