Americans’ confidence in public institutions, including the media, has declined precipitously in recent years. Similarly, few Americans view journalists as being highly ethical or honest. At the same time, party and religion shape both the sources of news that Americans consume as well as their regard for news professionals. This Spotlight Analysis examines which media sources Americans trust most for political news, as well as Americans’ confidence in news organizations and views of journalists in the current political climate.

What News Sources Do Americans Trust Most? 

According to PRRI’s 2025 Trump’s First 100 Days Survey, a plurality of Americans (43%) say they most trust mainstream TV news sources for accurate information on politics and current events. This includes broadcast network news (15%), local television news (11%), public television news (7%), CNN (6%), and MSNBC (3%). Around one in ten Americans (12%) most trust Fox News, and only 4% say they most trust far-right TV news sources, such as One America News or Newsmax. Over one-third of Americans (35%) say they do not watch TV news.

Party and Key Demographics

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats (65%) say they most trust mainstream TV news sources, compared with 44% of independents and 27% of Republicans. Around four in ten independents (39%) say they do not trust TV news, followed by 31% of Republicans and 27% of Democrats. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are three times more likely than independents and nearly ten times more likely than Democrats to most trust Fox News (29% vs. 8% and 3%, respectively) or far-right TV news (9% vs. 3% and less than 1%, respectively).

Older Americans (53% of those ages 65 and older and 50% ages 50-64) are more likely to trust mainstream TV news than younger age groups (39% ages 30-49 and 29% ages 18-29). This trend is also seen in trust in Fox News (21% and 14% vs. 8% and 7%, respectively). The majority of Americans 18-29 (55%) say they do not watch TV news, compared with less than half of Americans 30-49 (45%), one-quarter of Americans 50-64 (26%), and one in ten Americans 65 and older (13%).

While there are minor differences in media trust by education, Americans with a four-year college degree are more likely than those without a college degree to say they most trust mainstream TV news (46% vs. 41%). In addition, Americans in rural areas (38%) are less likely than those in suburban (44%) and urban areas (43%) to most trust mainstream TV news, and more likely to trust Fox News (16% vs. 13% and 10%, respectively). There are very few differences across these groups’ trust in far-right news (6% in rural, 4% in suburban, and 2% in urban areas).

Race and Religion

Six in ten Black Americans (60%) say they most trust mainstream TV news, compared with 45% of Hispanic, 40% of AAPI, 39% of white, and 36% of multiracial Americans. Black Americans are also the least likely to say they do not watch TV news (26%), compared with 44% of AAPI, 43% of multiracial, 38% of Hispanic, and 35% of white Americans. By contrast, white Americans are the most likely to say they most trust Fox News (15%), followed by 9% of both AAPI and multiracial Americans, 8% of Hispanic Americans, and 7% of Black Americans.

Yet, across white Christian groups, there are stark differences in news consumption. White Catholics (45%) and white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (44%) are significantly more likely than white evangelical Protestants (29%) to say they most trust mainstream TV news sources, while white evangelical Protestants (11%) are twice as likely as white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (5%) and white Catholics (5%) to say they most trust far-right TV news. Similar percentages of these groups say they most trust Fox News (around two in ten), but white evangelical Protestants (32%) are more likely than white non-evangelical Protestants (27%) and white Catholics (24%) to say they do not watch TV news.

Majorities of Black Protestants (65%), Jewish Americans (57%), and Hispanic Catholics (56%) say they most trust mainstream TV news, compared with minorities of Latter-day Saints (40%), unaffiliated Americans (39%), Hispanic Protestants (36%), and other non-Christian religions (36%). Less than half of unaffiliated Americans (49%) and Hispanic Protestants (45%), and around four in ten members of other non-Christian religions (40%) and Latter-day Saints (37%) say they do not watch TV news, followed by Hispanic Catholics (31%), Jewish Americans (24%), and Black Protestants (22%).

Confidence in News Organizations and Favorability of Journalists

In PRRI’s 2024 Authoritarianism Survey, most Americans reported having little or no confidence in news organizations (60%), compared with 38% who say they have confidence, including just 6% with a great deal of confidence, in news organizations. This year, PRRI asked Americans whether they have favorable or unfavorable views of journalists, finding that the majority of Americans (56%) hold unfavorable views of journalists, compared with 37% who view them favorably. Notably, 6% of Americans say they have not heard of the term “Journalists,” a group concentrated among those with a high school education or less (64%).

Party, Religion, and Key Demographics 

Around six in ten Democrats hold positive perceptions of both news organizations (61%) and journalists (56%), compared with around four in ten independents (both 38%) and less than one-quarter of Republicans (22% and 21%, respectively).

Jewish Americans are the only religious group where the majority have confidence in news organizations and hold favorable views of journalists (both 60%). Around half of Black Protestants had at least some confidence in news organizations (51%), but less than half hold favorable views of journalists (45%). With the exception of unaffiliated Americans (41% and 46%, respectively) and white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (35% and 39%, respectively, Americans in each religious group were more likely to have confidence in news organizations in 2024 than hold favorable views of journalists in 2025.

Younger Americans ages 18-29 are least likely to view journalists favorably (33%), followed by 38% of Americans ages 30-49, 36% ages 50-64, and 41% ages 65 and older. Americans with a four-year college degree or higher are more likely than those without a four-year degree to hold positive views of news organizations (46% vs. 34%) and journalists (46% vs. 35%). Those in rural areas are less likely than those in suburban and urban areas to hold positive views of news organizations and journalists (30% and 31% in rural vs. 38% and 37% in suburban and 43% and 38% in urban areas).