Almost half of Americans believe journalists are losing influence in society, according to a study from the Pew Research Center.
The survey found 49% said journalists are losing influence in society, compared to 15% who said they are gaining influence, while 45% said they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in journalists to act in the best interests of the public.
“There are a handful of journalists, the ones that we say we trust, that I think are doing the right thing, following what the code of journalism should be,” a participant in a focus group said. “But the others in today’s world are all about clicks, eyeballs, money, things like that, and they don’t necessarily mind tweaking the truth to suit their audience or their advertisers.”
A majority of Americans, 59%, said journalists are extremely or very important to the well-being of society, while 31% responded that journalists are somewhat important. Only 9% said they are not too or not at all important.
The study found most people believe journalists are intelligent, 63%, and well-intentioned, 58%, while more than half, 58%, said most journalists are biased.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were far less likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to express confidence in journalists to act in the public’s best interests and to describe them in positive terms, Pew research found. Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say negative words like “elitist” and “dishonest” describe most journalists well, the survey found.
The survey was conducted from April 14-20, 2025. A total of 9,397 panelists responded out of 10,559 who were sampled, for a survey-level response rate of 89%.
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