If you follow the trendline of plummeting trust in newspapers, as just updated by Gallup, you could make an argument that by the year 2030 or so, 0 percent of respondents will say they have any “confidence” in newspapers and TV news. …
Will the last poll respondent to lose confidence in newspapers and TV news, please cancel his subscription and turn off his TV?
This downer news about the news — and its hell-bound trajectory — surely measures something, but what? …
Gallup’s wording of its question is pretty vague. It didn’t ask respondents to rate the specific newspapers they read but to express their levels of confidence in the newspaper as an institution. They might have gotten a more positive answer if they had asked people how they feel about the daily newspaper they actually read. CONTINUED
Jack Shafer, Politico Magazine
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