The American public now trusts advertisements more than reporting by the mainstream media, according to a new survey.
61% of internet users surveyed by YouGov said they trust the ads they read – while faith in the ability of the news media to tell the truth continues to plummet.
The advertising survey results – reported by eMarketer – show that the proportion of people who trust advertising has actually increased – by 11% since 2014.
By contrast, surveys gauging levels of trust in the great institutions of American journalism have long painted a grim picture.
The latest results from Gallup’s authoritative survey put the level of trust at 32% – barely half that afforded to advertisers.
That figure, published during the closing weeks of the presidential campaign, is unlikely to have improved much since.
President Donald Trump has made attacks on the media – especially major TV networks and The New York Times – a part of his daily routine.
Trump routinely insults correspondents to their faces, telling them “the public doesn’t believe you”, and his chief strategist Steve Bannon delights in referring to White House reporters as “the opposition party”.
