Six-Chart Sunday (#16) – All Trust is Local
6 Infographics from the week + 1 interview (Steve Krakauer - Are media biased?)
I Don’t Trust the National Economy, but My State’s Economy is Good: In all seven swing states, a majority of voters (54% on avg) said their state’s economy was excellent or good while 43% said it was not good, but their views of the national economy were reversed: 36% saying it was at least good, 63% disapproving. (P. Kane in WaPo citing WSJ data).
No Confidence in the Federal Government, High Confidence in Local Government: Americans have the most faith in local government (67%) and the least faith in the U.S. Congress (32%) (Gallup).
Throw the Bums Out, But Not My Bum: While only 24% say “most members” of Congress deserve reelection, 55% believe their own member of Congress deserves another term (Gallup).
Leaders Generally are Unethical & Incompetent, but My Employer’s Better: People rank their own employer 26 points more ethical than “Business” in general (+47 versus +21) and 10 points more competent (+22 versus +12) (Edelman).
I’m OK, We’re Not OK: American’s are five times more satisfied with their own lives than with the direction of our nation. (Gallup)
Local News is More Trustworthy than National News: 71% of Americans have some/a lot of trust in local news orgs vs 61% in national news, 33% in social media sites. (Pew)
VIDEO
Journalist & media critic Steve Krakauer’s recent book assesses the sources and implications of bias in the modern media.
Great charts today, Bruce. But depressing at the same time. It is hard to be united when we do not trust our common institutions. Looking at the various charts, Americans find our government incompetent and untrustworthy. That is the real threat to democracy.