Media freedom perceptions hit record low: Survey

A new poll found that Americans’ perceptions of media freedom hit a record low, reaching its lowest point since pollsters started asking the question almost 20 years ago.

Gallup released a poll Tuesday showing that 69 percent of Americans believe there is a lot of media freedom in the U.S. The new figure is 6 points below where it was in 2025, which saw a 5-point increase between 78 percent in 2023 and 82 percent the following year.

The highest percentage of respondents to say the U.S. has a lot of press freedom was 89 percent, back when Gallup first asked the question to Americans in 2010.

Gallup revealed a widening partisan divide over the question of media freedom, with 91 percent of Republican respondents saying U.S. media has many freedoms. This is an 8-point rise since GOP respondents were asked in 2024, under former President Biden.

Among Democrats and independents, however, those numbers have lowered with 68 percent of independents and 57 percent of Democrats saying the media has many freedoms, both down from 75 percent and 68 percent in 2025, respectively.

Perceptions have also fallen below the median average among other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, which generally sits at around 80 percent. That median hit 75 percent in 2025, with 2026 marking the first year on record where the U.S. sat below the median, at 69 percent.

“Public belief in U.S. media freedom continues to erode, while trust in the news media remains on the low end of what Gallup has measured historically,” the pollster wrote. “Many Americans lack a shared perspective toward their news environment, given partisan divides in perceptions of media freedom and trust.”

Challenges to media freedom have made headlines in recent weeks after President Trump banned CNN, Politico and MS NOW reporters who cover the White House, accusing them of peddling “fake news.” The outlets responded with a lawsuit, and U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled last week that the White House violated the media companies’ due process rights.

Kelly restored their access, but White House officials barred CNN from boarding Air Force One as Trump traveled to Tennessee to attend a college football game.

Attorney General Todd Blanche told ABC News’s “This Week” on Sunday that the president had “every right” to block CNN’s reporters from joining the White House press pool on Air Force One. He added that reporting perceived by the administration as “complete misinformation” rises to the level of a “national security problem” for U.S. relations with other countries.

The Gallup survey was conducted from May 1 to June 10 and included 1,000 respondents. The margin of error is 4.1 percentage points.