• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, 4 hours ago

Those darn kids! Teenagers in this country have a dim view of journalists, judging by a new study from the News Literacy Project. 

Some 84% of teens view the news media negatively. Out of all of those polled, 45% say journalists do more to harm democracy than to protect it. 

And 80% of teens say journalists fail to produce information that is more impartial than other content creators online. Indeed, 69% believe news organizations deliberately add bias to their coverage to advance a specific perspective.  

Moreover, 56% believe journalists and news organizations take journalism standards like accuracy and fairness seriously. We suppose that’s something.  

“With views like these, it’s little wonder that many young people also indicated they do not see the value of preserving America’s Fourth Estate,” the study says. “About two-thirds (67%) of the teens we surveyed said they are a little or not at all concerned about the sharp decline in the number of news organizations in the U.S. over the last 20 years.” 

Here are the words teens offer to describe news media: 

• Inaccurate/deceptive — 19%
• Chaotic/overwhelming — 17% 
• Inflammatory/stressful — 11% 
• Biased — 18%
• Poor quality — 9% 
• Boring — 6% 
• Depressing — 6% 

Now what accounts for animus? Are teenagers simply rebelling? Or is Donald Trump’s antipathy toward the news media seeping into their collective world view? 

Yet it’s very likely that some of these young people will go into journalism themselves, bringing all their passion to the job.  

Aren’t journalist doing well at anything? Oh, yes, teens say they are good at: 

• Lying/deceiving — 81%
• Nothing — 66% 
• Informing the public — 52% 
• Uncovering the truth — 46%
• Writing or storytelling — 41% 
• Timely and breaking news reporting — 39% 
• Being biased/partisan — 26%
• Acting as a watchdog — 22% 
• Upsetting or overwhelming people — 19%
• Covering important stories — 17% 
• Asking questions/interviewing — 16%
• Providing different opinions/viewpoints — 15% 
• Using social media — 14% 
• Being inflammatory/provocative — 13% 
• Providing relevant details and context — 11% 
• Covering a broad variety of topics — 10%
• Getting attention/views — 10% 
• Getting the scoop — 10% 
• Explaining complex topics — 10% 

But it's not all bad, as you can see.

That said, here are a few other depressing data points:

• 60% of teens believe journalists frequently take photos and videos out of context
• 50% believe journalists frequently make up details, such as quotes 
• Almost 50% believe journalists frequently give advertisers special treatment 
• 25% believe journalists rarely or never cover stories that help protect the public’s interests 
• Roughly 50% believe journalists pay or do favor for sources in exchange for information or special access. 

Working with SSRS, the News Literacy Project surveyed 756 young people ages 13-18 between April 20 and May 12, 2025.