According to a Public Policy Polling report released on Wednesday, Fox News is now the least-trusted name in news.
The poll found that 39 percent of voters identified Fox News as the news outlet they trust the least — this dwarfs the 14 percent who named MSNBC, followed by CNN at 13 percent, Comedy Central at 12 percent, ABC and CBS at 5 percent, NBC at 3 percent, and the 1 percent who said they least trust PBS.
Overall, 46 percent of voters do not trust Fox News, compared to 41 percent who do; this is a dramatic slide from 2010, when 49 percent of voters trusted the network, compared to 41 percent who did not. The network actually tied Comedy Central for last place in terms of voter trust, which is hardly a consolation for Fox given that Comedy Central’s “news” programs like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are intentionally satirically biased.
January network ratings showed the conservative news channel struggling to maintain its base of viewers. In recent weeks, Fox News Channel president Roger Ailes has been making changes within the network, letting go of contributors Dick Morris and Sarah Palin.
This change of heart among viewers may hinge on the conservative network’s decision to misconstrue facts and cover some stories over others in an effort to uphold its agenda. Think Progress points out “While the rest of the country discussed senatorial candidate Todd Akin’s ‘legitimate rape’ comments, Fox News hardly covered the controversy. They similarly ignored the conflict surrounding the death of teenager Trayvon Martin, and of New York’s same-sex marriage law’s passage.” They have also repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories surrounding the Benghazi embassy attack, on which the right wing remains fixated.
PBS is the only network trusted by a plurality of voters; 52 percent say they trust the public network, compared to just 29 percent who do not.
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