Nearly 60 percent see mainstream media as a threat to democracy: poll

Dominick Mastrangelo
·1 min read
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More than half of all registered voters see the mainstream media as a threat to American democracy, according to a new poll.

A New York Times-Siena College poll published Tuesday found 59 percent of voters view the media as a “major threat to democracy,” while 25 percent said the press is a “minor threat” and only 15 percent said it poses no threat.

The divide fell sharply along partisan lines, with 87 percent of voters who supported former President Trump in 2020 indicating they view the media is a major threat, while 33 percent of Biden voters during that election cycle said the same thing.

Overall, 71 percent of voters agreed that democracy is under threat, while only 7 percent of voters rank a threat to democracy as a major issue this midterm election cycle.

An annual Gallup survey also published this week found only 34 percent of Americans believe major news organizations will report “fully, accurately and fairly” on current events, only slightly higher than in 2016, the lowest percentage the polling firm has ever recorded.

The New York Times-Siena College poll was conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct. 12 among 793 registered voters and has margin of error of 4 percentage points.

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