Poll: Voters Trust Local News More Than National

President Donald Trump has frequently lashed out at news organizations for reporting “fake news” about him and his administration, but most Americans continue to maintain faith in at least one media pillar — their local news outlets.

A new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll conducted Aug. 10-14 found that 41 percent of registered voters have more trust in their local news outlets to report the truth, while 27 percent said they have more faith in the truthfulness of national news coverage. Thirty-two percent didn’t know or had no opinion, according to the survey — a national sample of 1,997 registered voters.

A slim plurality of Democrats (39 percent to 36 percent) trust national news coverage more than their local news outlets, the poll showed. Meanwhile, many Republicans (45 percent to 21 percent) and independents (41 percent to 22 percent) trust local news over national news.

Fifty-four percent of overall respondents found national news coverage to be somewhat or very liberal, while 16 percent said national organizations were somewhat or very conservative. Just 7 percent found national news coverage to be centrist or nonpartisan.

Trump has often taken to Twitter to label the national media as “fake news,” saying most recently in a Thursday morning post: “The public is learning (even more so) how dishonest the Fake News is. They totally misrepresent what I say about hate, bigotry etc. Shame!”