New poll about news media, trust and democracy shows partisan divide; Republicans define 'fake news' broadly

A new survey of more than 19,000 U.S. adults sheds some light on why public trust in the news media is at an all-time low. The key takeaway is that Americans think the news media is an important part of our democracy, but they don't think the media is fulfilling that role. The survey is part of the Knight Foundation Trust, Media and Democracy initiative, and is one of the largest on this topic. It as done by the Gallup Organization. (Click here to read the whole report.)

On Jan. 23, The Washington Post will broadcast live a series of panels exploring the implications of the survey, featuring Judy Woodruff of PBS and Bret Baier of Fox News. You can tune in at PostLive from 9:30 to 11 a.m. ET. Ten findings that stood out from the survey:

1. 84 percent of Americans think the news media is key to democracy, but only 44 percent can name an objective news source.
2. There's a sizeable difference in how people belonging to different political parties view the news media: while 54 percent of Democrats have a very or somewhat favorable opinion of the media, only 32 percent of Republicans do.
3. More news sources can bring more confusion. 58 percent of Americans think having more news sources makes it harder to feel well-informed, while 38 percent say it's easier. And people these days are less satisfied with the sources they see: 50 percent of adults say there are enough sources to sort out facts, as opposed to 66 percent in 1985. 
4. People are worried about fake news: 73 percent say the spread of inaccurate information on the internet is a major problem with news coverage, more than any other potential kind of news bias. Only 50 percent feel confident that the public can see past the bias to discover the real facts. Less than 33 percent say that they personally are confident they can tell when a news source is reporting hard news and not commentary or opinion.
5. What is fake news? Opinions vary. Most people believe that knowingly reporting false information as if it were true is fake news. Forty percent of Republicans say that even accurate information is fake news if it casts a certain politician or political group in a negative light.
6. Whose responsibility is it to inform Americans? 48 percent overall and 53 percent of Republicans said it's individual citizens' job to inform the public, and 48 percent overall and 53 percent of Democrats said it's the news media's job to do so.
7. Most people believe that the internet, news aggregators, citizen videos and cable news have had a positive impact on the U.S. news over the past 10 years, but 54 percent say the impact of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter has been negative. 53 percent say that political leaders using social media to directly communicate with the public is more negative than positive.
8. 64 percent of Americans say they share news stories on social media, but 68 percent of that group says they mostly share stories with people who hold similar beliefs. 
9. 57 percent of people think the way internet platforms choose news stories for them is a major problem for democracy, but opinions are divided over whether such platforms should be regulated: 49 percent are in favor of such regulations, and 47 percent are opposed. 
10. A person's age and political party is strongly tied to their trust in the news media. Older Americans and Democrats tend to trust the news media more, while younger people and Republicans mostly distrust it.