Majority of Americans Do NOT Trust TV Reporters’ Honesty and Ethics, Just 13% Do
15th January 2025
When it comes to honesty and ethics, TV and newspaper reporters rank with the likes of car salespeople, lawyers and advertising professionals, results of a new Gallup survey of U.S. adults reveal – and Americans’ opinion of them may actually be much worse than they say.
In a national survey, conducted December 2-18, 2024, Gallup asked respondents to “rate the honesty and ethical standards” of 23 professions. “TV reporter” was one of just three professions distrusted by a majority of Americans. Only 13%, or about one in eight, rate the trustworthiness of TV reporters as either “high” or “very high,” while more than four times as many (55%) think it’s “low” or “very low” (55%).
Similarly, nearly half (45%) of U.S. adults rate the honesty and ethics of newspaper reporters as either low or very low, while only about one in six (17%) give them a positive score.