Real News From The Blaze': American Trust in the Media Hits New Low

A new report from Gallup shows that trust towards the Fourth Estate has hit an all-time low, as 60 percent of Americans now say they don’t trust the media. The poll also notes that the current gap between negative and positive views -- 20 percentage points -- is by far the highest Gallup has recorded since it began regularly asking the question in the 1990s. The decrease in trust from 2008 to 2012 was the steepest among Independents, followed by Republicans, while at 58 percent support Democrats express the most trust towards the media.

While there has been a general trend of distrust among Americans towards many political and societal institutions along with the media, such as Congress, the financial sector and public education system; many critics point to examples in recent years where the mainstream media has failed in fulfilling their role in our society and say they do not deserve our confidence. Reason magazine praised the Spanish-language network Univision Friday, for their tough questioning of presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama during televised town hall forums this week. Tim Cavanaugh writes on the grilling:

So apparently the way to get presidential candidates to talk seriously about issues is to put them on Spanish-language TV. First there was Republican challenger Mitt Romney getting a spinal tap over his shifting immigration views, if you can be married and gay at the same time, and whether he was wearing brownface.

Now President Obama must also be wondering what happened to the good old days when all you had to do was print up some "Adelante" flyers and say a few words in halting Spanish on the stump.

From 42 straight months of unemployment over eight percent, a 38.8 percent decline in U.S. wealth from 2007-2010, over 2,000 American deaths in Afghanistan since 2001, and anti-American protests currently across the globe; many Americans are likely frustrated to hear coverage about Mitt Romney's pets or what Barack Obama had to say on a local radio station.

On "Real News From The Blaze" Friday, the panel discussed the Gallup report revealing a severe lack of trust from the American people towards the media, whether the mainstream media is still asking the tough questions, and why the Univision forums have stuck out to many political observers.