Trust in American news media remains low

The latest terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, not-at-all-surprising news from Gallup: Americans' confidence in most major US institutions remains below the historical average for each one. Only the military (72 percent) and small business (67 percent) -- the highest-rated institutions in 2015's poll -- are currently rated higher than their historical norms, based on the percentage expressing "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the institution.... Americans' confidence in most major institutions has been down for many years as the nation has dealt with prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a major recession and sluggish economic improvement, and partisan gridlock in Washington.

In fact, 2004 was the last year most institutions were at or above their historical average levels of confidence. Perhaps not coincidentally, 2004 was also the last year Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States averaged better than 40 percent. Currently, 28 percent of Americans are satisfied with the state of the nation. Confidence in newspapers is currently at 24 percent, eight points below the historical average. Television news is at 21 percent, nine points below the historical average.