State of Public Trust in Local News

Americans’ perceptions and assessments of local media. Americans mostly believe local news media are doing a good job performing many of their democratic roles and responsibilities. Americans assess local coverage of most important local issues positively, and they generally see local media as in step with, rather than at odds with, the political leanings of their local community. While Americans give local news organizations stronger ratings than national organizations across most trust dimensions, such as relevancy and transparency, evidence suggests this trust advantage is more a sign of skepticism toward national media than of enthusiasm toward local news organizations. Partisanship is becoming a powerful lens through which people evaluate not just national news organizations like CNN and Fox News, but also their local newspaper or TV station. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to trust local news to perform their roles, but the gap is especially wide when it comes to geing the facts right. Although 51% of Americans do not perceive that their local news has become more biased in recent years, those who believe it has are more likely to see a shift toward liberal views. Critically, Americans who perceive a shift in the bias of local news coverage are about half as likely to trust local news as those who do not. The study findings present a dilemma for local news. The data suggest that moving into more aggressive coverage of social and political issues could further polarize views — and possibly lead to an erosion of trust. However, these are not issues that local news organizations can abandon without abdicating some of their mandate to help democracy flourish.