WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) — Above half of registered American voters, or 52 percent, believe U.S. media is biased in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, according to a newly-released Gallup poll.
The findings are based on Gallup Daily tracking data collected Oct. 27-28, 2016. Americans’ perception of media bias is stronger in this election than during the 2004 presidential campaign, the only other time Gallup has asked the question.
In October 2004, 45 percent of registered voters believed there was no media bias – seven percentage points higher than today. Further, there was a bit more parity in perceptions of which party benefited from media favoritism, with 35 percent saying it was biased in favor of Democratic candidate John Kerry and 16 percent in favor of his Republican rival George W. Bush, Gallup said.
Voters’ perceptions of media bias in 2016 are closely related to their underlying opinions of Clinton and Trump. Among voters who have a favorable opinion of Trump, 90 percent say that the media is biased in favor of Clinton. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of those who view Clinton favorably say the media is not biased toward either candidate, Gallup found.
Voters’ perceptions of media bias in 2016 are also related to political party affiliation. Majorities of Democrats, at 63 percent, and independents, at 52 percent, do not believe that the media is biased toward either candidate, Gallup found.
By contrast, the vast majority of Republicans, at 86 percent, perceive media bias, and nearly all of them, at 80 percent, believe the bias favors Clinton. Among independents and Democrats who perceive bias, large majorities also believe the bias favors Clinton, according to Gallup.
In the U.S., perceptions of a liberal media bias have been prevalent throughout this century. However, the perceived tilt in bias toward the Democratic candidate among registered voters was less pronounced in the 2004 election than it is today, Gallup found.
The increased perception of media bias among voters is largely driven by Republicans. While they were more likely than independents and Democrats to perceive bias in 2004 and are again more likely to do so in 2016, that gap has widened substantially, Gallup said.
Despite evidence of the partisanship in patterns of media-bias perception, Americans who perceive bias — regardless of their favorability of Clinton or Trump or their party affiliation — generally agree that media coverage favors Clinton, Gallup found.
