The media are losing their friends just as they lost viewership and readership as they stepped up bias, according to a new survey of news consumers.
Younger voters, older people, Hispanics, Republicans, independents, and even Democrats cited pro-Democratic bias in agreeing that they just can’t hate the media enough.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey shared with Secrets found that 49% believe news bias is getting worse, while, by a margin of 44% to 29%, likely voters agree with the statement: “No matter how much you hate the media, it’s not enough.”
Bias in the media has been around forever, and political bias has exploded since President Donald Trump hit the presidential stage.
Recent presidents have tried to fight it, but with little luck. Former President Barack Obama, for example, tried to skip over the media and use social media as his direct outreach to voters.
Trump’s team, which often criticizes the legacy liberal media, has moved to add center-right outlets to the White House press pool for balance.
But consumers still see it, and most believe it favors Democrats. Rasmussen said that 49% see bias getting worse, compared to just 11% who see it getting better.
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There is little disagreement that Democrats are the beneficiaries. Even Democrats agreed. Asked if the media organizations favor Democrats over Republicans, 43% of Democrats agreed while 24% disagreed.
And on the issue of hating the media, more Democrats than not agreed with Republicans. Democrats, by a 40%-35% margin, believe they can’t hate the media enough. For Republicans, it was 57% to 21%.