63% Say Most News Organizations Are Politically Biased

Following the high-profile resignation of a New York Times opinion page editor, most voters are eager to find fair and balanced media coverage but think the majority of news organizations these days are politically biased.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with this statement – “As places like The [New York] Times and other once-great journalistic institutions betray their standards and lose sight of their principles, Americans still hunger for news that is accurate, opinions that are vital and debate that is sincere.” Just 24% disagree with the statement from editor Bari Weiss’ resignation letter. Seventeen percent (17%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.) 

But 63% believe most major news organizations in this country have their own political agenda. Only 27% feel these news organizations generally remain impartial.

Democrats (42%), however, are far less likely than Republicans (87%) and voters not affiliated with either major party (63%) to believe most news organizations are politically biased.

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted July 15-16, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Just 30% of voters trust the political news they’re getting, and 44% believe most reporters are trying to block President Trump’s agenda. By contrast, 48% thought most reporters were trying to help President Obama pass his agenda in 2010. 

A plurality (44%) of voters still gets most of its political news from television, but that’s down from 57% five years ago. Twenty-nine percent (29%) rely on the internet for most of this news, with another six percent (6%) who count on social media. These two categories are up from 22% and two percent (2%) respectively in 2015.

Eight percent (8%) turn to radio for most political news, while six percent (6%) still read newspapers first. Two percent (2%) get most of their political news from family and friends, three percent (3%) from other sources.

The older the voter, the more they rely on TV news. Those under 40 are more likely to get most of their political news from the internet and social media.

Younger voters are also the most likely to believe most news organizations have their own political agenda but the least likely to think Americans want a more balanced media.

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Republicans and 55% of unaffiliated voters agree with Weiss that Americans hunger for fair and balanced news, but just 42% of Democrats share that view.

Fake news or the real thing? Only one-in-three voters think the New York Times gets it completely right most of the time.

More voters than ever are regular Internet users, with over one-third of those under 40 now saying their political opinions are influenced by social media.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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