Manufactured Division: Trust In Journalism Corresponds with Pessimism About Race & Sex

A survey of more than 3,000 American adults taken to assess their views on controversial topics, discovered that a large number of legacy media consumers have been influenced into thinking that racism and sexism are holding people back in the U.S.

The Political Accuracy & Divisions Study (PADS) by the Skeptic Research Center sought to evaluate how accurately Americans thought about issues like race, gender, crime, immigration, abortion and the economy.

Researchers found that the more a respondent trusted in news journalism, the more pessimistic they tended to be regarding racism and sexism.

Those who had high trust in legacy media were more likely to agree or strongly agree with statements that women and racial minorities in the United States “have no hope for success” because of sexism or racism.

The study’s findings lend credence to the claim that much of the panic and division found throughout American society today is driven by divisive and demoralizing content being manufactured by the legacy media.

This trend was clearly observable in how legacy media covered the 2024 presidential candidates with the Media Research Center reporting that coverage for the Democratic team was 78% positive while GOP coverage was only 15% positive.

The Skeptic Research Center reported in early November that Americans who most trust journalists were the least likely to understand that Donald Trump has condemned white supremacy.

Yet another indication of the extent of misinformation from mainstream news journalists:

Americans who most trust journalists are the least likely to understand that Donald Trump has condemned white supremacy.

(He has, repeatedly: https://t.co/5B8iECCNSq)

(see graph below) https://t.co/I4Mit9XmcT pic.twitter.com/U5o9OYjdAA

— Skeptic Research Center Team (@SkepResCenter) November 6, 2024

Researchers also found that individuals with much higher trust in news journalism were more likely to have believed that Kamala Harris’s policy positions had remained consistent throughout her time in office, while those who don’t trust journalists know that they hadn’t.

The Skeptic Research Center Team in a post on X encouraged followers to watch for an upcoming article on their deeper findings about the correlation between high trust in journalist and pessimism with data drawn from multiple surveys.

We’re working on an article that outlines our findings (from multiple surveys) of the pessimistic and misinformed views of Americans with high trust in journalists. Keep a lookout. https://t.co/yfjylnxhiS

— Skeptic Research Center Team (@SkepResCenter) November 6, 2024

The Skeptic Research Center Team noted that this trend indicates that it’s possible the American public is just not listening much to the mainstream media any longer.