An online survey of 1,600 U.S. journalists was conducted, and the information gathered by Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications finds that only 3.4% of reporters in the U.S. identify themselves as Republicans.
That number has dwindled over the last 40 years. In 1982, 19% of reporters said they were Republicans. In 2013, the number shrank to just 7%.
The same poll found journalists who admitted to being Democrats increased to 36% compared to 28% in 2013.
The majority of journalists surveyed said they were Independents (52%).
Most of the study by Syracuse University focused on research on how reporters viewed their jobs and the current environment of the profession.
When comparing journalism over the years, reporters were asked about important problems facing journalism today.
The top response was the declining public trust in the news media. Reporters also admitted there was a perceived bias and too much opinion in journalism.
Bias reporting from mainstream media has always been an accusation from those on the right. On a daily, sometimes weekly basis, the Media Research Center (MRC) analyzes stories covered by the media, and if they have a liberal theme, MRC says they will get more coverage than conservative issues.
Another problem reporters said facing the business today, was fake new reporting. This term has been used by former President Trump and other conservative media outlets.
Conservative journalists point out that fake news stories have been pushed as legit by those on CNN and MSNBC. For example, the Russia Trump collusion, which turned out to be false, yet media groups like CNN and MSNBC continues to push the narrative that something illegal happened.
Public trust in the media has been on the decline for many years. Some surveys show most Americans have more faith in their local media than the national media.
And with the lack of public faith in well-known media institutions, it has created opportunities and more choice to alternative media outlets in talk radio, blogs and an increase of podcast.
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