• by Wayne Friedman , August 23, 2018

Despite attacks from the Trump White House, consumer trust in news media -- especially with local TV news and local newspapers  -- is climbing. 

Some 76% of Americans say they trust local TV and newspapers, according to a recent Poynter Institute for Media Studies poll.

In other more specific results, 73% trust local newspapers; 59% give the thumbs up to national newspapers, and 55% approve of national network news. Only online news sources were under the 50% mark -- registering a 47% trust score.

Looking specifically at political affiliation, Republicans are more distrustful of the media overall than Democrats, with a 23% trust score and a 86% trust score, respectively. However, both Republicans' and Democrats' trust numbers are growing -- at four and 12 percentage points, respectively.

Those polled of both party affiliations have high regard for local media.

Democrats registered a 88% score each for local TV and local newspapers. Republicans scored 71% in trust for local TV news, while 62% of Republicans trust local newspapers.

In addition, the study says 54% of Americans have "a great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust and confidence in the media -- a five-percentage-point improvement from Poynter's first survey in December 2017.

Poynter's second annual Media Trust Survey interviewed a national sample of 2,000 Americans in July 2018.