Just 24% of Voters Say News Media ‘Fairly and Accurately’ Report on Crime

(Getty Images/Naom Galai)

Only about one in four voters trust the U.S. news media to properly report on crime, a new Rasmussen survey reveals.

In a national survey of 915 likely voters, conducted on June 8-9, 2021, Rasmussen asked:

“Do most of the news media report fairly and accurately about the problem of crime in America?”

Fully 60% said, “No,” they don’t trust the media’s crime coverage, two and a half times the 24% who said they did. Another 15% weren’t sure.

Republicans (71%) and unaffiliated voters (70%) were the most likely to distrust the media’s reporting on the issue of crime. Still, more Democrats (44%) said media don’t cover the issue fairly and accurately than said they do (34%).

In a separate question, voters were asked if they think media accurately report the actual amount of violent crime taking place nationally:

“Do the media tend to exaggerate the amount of violent crime in America, do they tend to underplay the amount of violent crime, or is the media’s coverage of violent crime about right?”

Just one in five (20%) said the amount of crime being reported is “about right,” but there was less agreement on the direction of the media’s slant. While 38% said that crime is being underreported, 33% felt that it’s being exaggerated and 8% were unsure.

Democrats (30%) were more likely than either Republicans (12%) or unaffiliated voters (19%) to believe that the nation’s media are accurately portraying the amount of violent crime plaguing the U.S.