How Democrats and Republicans Differ on News Trust
Key Takeaways:
- Fox News and CNN have the largest partisan trust gaps at 37 percentage points each, highlighting sharply different perceptions of major news outlets.
- Ten news sources are trusted by more than 40% of Democrats, while Fox News (56%) is the only outlet exceeding that threshold among Republicans.
- Americans’ overall trust in mass media reached a record low of 28% in 2025, according to Gallup.
Americans disagree about more than politics. They also have sharply different views about which news organizations they can trust.
This visualization compares trust in 30 news sources among Democrats and Republicans, based on a 2025 Pew Research Center study of 9,482 U.S. adults. The findings reveal which outlets have the widest partisan divides and where the two groups are more closely aligned.
Which News Sources Do Americans Trust?
The following table ranks 30 news sources by the size of their partisan trust gaps, using Pew Research Center’s March 2025 survey. Party groups include independents who lean toward either party.
| News Source | Democrats Who Trust (%) | Republicans Who Trust (%) | Trust Gap (p.p.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fox News | 19 | 56 | 37 |
| CNN | 58 | 21 | 37 |
| PBS | 59 | 23 | 36 |
| ABC News | 61 | 26 | 35 |
| NBC News | 60 | 25 | 35 |
| NPR | 47 | 12 | 35 |
| CBS News | 56 | 23 | 33 |
| The New York Times | 49 | 16 | 33 |
| BBC News | 52 | 20 | 32 |
| The Associated Press | 47 | 16 | 31 |
| MSNBC | 45 | 14 | 31 |
| The Joe Rogan Experience | 3 | 31 | 28 |
| The Washington Post | 37 | 14 | 23 |
| Newsmax | 2 | 21 | 19 |
| USA Today | 37 | 18 | 19 |
| The Atlantic | 20 | 3 | 17 |
| Politico | 21 | 4 | 17 |
| The Guardian | 23 | 7 | 16 |
| Newsweek | 26 | 11 | 15 |
| The Wall Street Journal | 37 | 23 | 14 |
| Tucker Carlson Network | 1 | 15 | 14 |
| HuffPost | 13 | 2 | 11 |
| The Daily Wire | 3 | 14 | 11 |
| Forbes | 28 | 18 | 10 |
| Breitbart | 1 | 10 | 9 |
| Axios | 11 | 2 | 9 |
| Univision | 13 | 5 | 8 |
| Telemundo | 12 | 6 | 6 |
| The Hill | 11 | 5 | 6 |
| New York Post | 17 | 15 | 2 |
The divide extends beyond cable news. Major broadcast networks, including ABC, NBC, and CBS, all have trust gaps of at least 33 percentage points, with Democrats expressing substantially greater trust.
Among newer media platforms, The Joe Rogan Experience stands out, earning the trust of 31% of Republicans compared with just 3% of Democrats. Newsmax follows a similar pattern, with 21% Republican trust versus 2% Democratic trust.
Not every outlet shows such a wide divide. The New York Post has nearly identical trust levels among Democrats (17%) and Republicans (15%).
Does Political Trust Reflect Media Bias?
A partisan trust gap does not necessarily mean a news outlet’s reporting is biased. Political identity, audience preferences, and editorial decisions can all shape perceptions of credibility.
A 2025 study published in Scientific Reports found that major cable news networks have increasingly diverged in their topic selection and language, while broadcast networks remain more similar.
However, Pew’s survey measures perceptions of trust rather than the accuracy or political slant of reporting. It also distinguishes between trust and distrust, an important difference when comparing outlets with varying levels of public familiarity.
For example, a relatively low trust percentage does not necessarily indicate widespread distrust. Some respondents may simply be unfamiliar with an outlet or have no opinion about its credibility.
Why News Trust Matters for Elections
These divisions have implications for U.S. elections. When voters rely on different news sources, they may encounter different coverage of political issues, candidates, and policy debates.
Alongside growing political advertising spending across states, fragmented media audiences can make reaching voters across party lines increasingly challenging.
The findings also reflect broader concerns about public trust in news around the world. In the U.S., a separate 2025 Gallup survey found that just 28% of Americans expressed confidence in mass media, the lowest level recorded at the time.
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As artificial intelligence becomes more prominent in journalism, questions about credibility are expanding beyond traditional media outlets. Explore Do You Trust News Produced by Artificial Intelligence? to see how Americans view AI-generated news.