A huge majority of American news consumers want journalists to provide accurate coverage of important political issues rather than waste airtime and column inches arguing with the president.
That’s according to polling data from Pew Research which shows that Americans are hyper-aware of growing animosity between the Trump administration and the national news media. Ninety-four percent of Americans told the organization that they are aware of tension between the administration and the media covering its actions.
Among those polled, 83 percent said they would characterize the situation as “generally unhealthy.”
“The findings do not speak to who Americans blame for these tensions or what Americans want done about the situation. But what is clear is that they currently have high levels of awareness and concern,” Pew reported.
What concerns Americans most, according to the data, is that they aren’t receiving adequate coverage of important political news as both reporters and the administration focus increasingly on discrediting one another. Seventy-three percent of respondents told Pew “tensions are getting in the way of access to important national political news and information.”
According to the polling agency, worries about current relationship between the executive and the news media are a bipartisan affair.
From the report: “Fully 88% of Democrats say the relationship is unhealthy, as do 78% of Republicans. And about seven-in-ten members of both parties say access to important political news is impacted. The findings are similarly consistent across other demographic groups such as age, race, income and education.”