• by Wayne Friedman , August 17, 2012

In a continuing era of declining trust in news, local TV news content is generally more believable to consumers than other TV news operations -- broadcast networks, cable networks, print and radio.

The Pew Research Center said local TV news operations scored a 65% positive number with a 35% negative number.

This comes as part of an overall study on news. Pew notes that across 13 major news organizations, the average positive believability has been falling and is at a 56% rating versus 62% a year ago. A decade ago, in 2002, the average rating for the news organizations tested was 71%.

Pew says since 2002, every news outlet’s believability rating has suffered a double-digit drop, except for local daily newspapers and local TV news.

After local TV news, CBS' "60 Minutes" gets a 64% positive score. ABC News is next at 59% -- the best overall network news operations. The Wall Street Journal registers best in the print category, at 58%. It is tied with CNN at 58%. CBS News comes next at 57%. Daily newspapers are tied with CBS at the 57% level.

The three major cable news organizations have witnessed declines in believability in two years: CNN, down three points to 58%; Fox, off four points to 49%; and MSNBC down 10 points to 50%.

As with other news organizations, cable news networks are down substantially from a decade ago: CNN, 76%; MSNBC, 73%, and Fox News, 67%.

Local TV, however, has generally been able to retain its high score versus a decade ago. It had a 68% number in 2002.

The three major TV networks -- ABC News, CBS News and NBC News -- have fallen during the past decade, positive ratings for all three have fallen from the low 70s to the mid-to high 50s.

Some news organizations are still a mystery to the public: Roughly one-in-five polled are unable to rate the believability of NPR (21%), The New York Times (19%), The Wall Street Journal (19%) and USA Today (17%).

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