U.S. Distrust In Media Hits Record High

A new Gallup poll released on Friday found that U.S. distrust in the media hit a record high.

The results are based off a survey distributed between Sept. 6-9, 2012. The results were consistent with years past, as distrust in the media typically increases during election years from the year before. However, this year's distrust was the highest since Gallup started recording results to this question in the 1990s.

When asked "how much trust and confidence" respondents had when it came to the media "fully, accurately, and fairly" reporting the news, 60 percent of respondents said they do not trust the mass media "very much/at all." There is a 20 percent difference between negative and positive views of the media, with only 40 percent of respondents saying they trust the mass media a "great deal/fair amount."

According to Gallup, "Trust in the media was much higher, and more positive than negative, in the years prior to 2004 -- as high as 72% when Gallup asked this question three times in the 1970s."

The results are also consistent with a recent poll conducted by Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos and the SEIU. Regardless of political leanings, 78 percent of survey respondents said they had an unfavorable view of the political press.