A new Pew Research Center poll shows the divide between Democrats and Republicans over the impact of the media on the country grew significantly in the last year.
On the Democratic side, 44 percent say the news media has a positive effect on the country, and 46 percent say it’s negative. That’s a significant change from last year when just 33 percent of Democrats said the national news media had a positive impact on the country and 59 percent said it was negative.
Republicans on the other hand have long held a negative view of the media’s impact, but it has grown from 68 percent in 2010, to 76 percent in 2015 and is now at 85 percent.
The biggest shift in positive sentiment among Democrats came from those that are 50 and older where 59 percent now think the media is having a positive effect vs. 46 percent last year. Those under 50, also view the media more positively this year than last (33 percent vs. 25 percent), but that only brings them back to where they were in 2015 (32 percent).
That sentiment is a little higher than Democrats with college degrees (53 percent) or those identifying as liberal (51 percent).
The divergence between Republicans and Democrats can be explained by the increasing anti-Republican, anti-Trump coverage by the liberal media, which has restored Democrats’ confidence in the media but reinforced Republicans’ suspicions that much of what they produce is fake news.
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