Poll: Public confidence in newspapers is rising; other media, not so much

Americans’ confidence in newspapers remains low, but is rising, according to a new Gallup Poll.

In the midst of a national controversy over "fake news," 27 percent of Americans said they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers, according to the poll.

That number rose from last year's record low of 20 percent, although confidence in newspapers still remains lower than it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

According to Gallup, Democrats are primarily responsible for the increase in confidence in newspapers. Last year, 28 percent of Democrats had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in newspapers, but that number rose to 46 percent this year.

Meanwhile, just 16 percent of Republicans said they had confidence in newspapers last year. This year, that number fell to 13 percent.

Americans also lack confidence in television and internet news. Just 24 percent of Americans expressed confidence in television news, and only 16 percent expressed confidence in news that appears on the internet.

Gallup called the findings consistent with their 2016 poll showing that Americans’ trust in the mass media to “report the news fully, accurately and fairly” is at an all-time low.