Despite an array of choices, local TV news is the one source that a majority of registered voters turned to on a daily basis, according to a national poll by USC Annenberg and the Los Angeles Times.
Fifty-eight percent said they watched local TV news daily, more than 39% who say they read a local newspaper each day. After newspapers, national network news broadcasts are viewed regularly by 35% of voters, followed by Fox News Channel (33%), network morning shows (285), Facebook (25%), aggregators like Yahoo (25%), CNN (21%) and MSNBC and NPR (19%). Twelve percent said they listen regularly to conservative talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.
More than half of voters in the 18 to 29-year-old group (52%) get news from Facebook, followed by local TV at 37%. Although one in five among this group say they tune in to the “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” on Comedy Central, they rate the duo lower for trustworthiness than local newspapers and TV, the poll found.
Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart received a 3.9 out of 10 overall for trust, compared with Fox News (7 among Republicans, 4.1 among Democrats) and PBS (7.1 among Democrats, 5 among Republicans). Facebook earned a paltry 3 rating, with Twitter at 2.3.
Asked to rank partisanship, 70% of Republicans called the media too liberal, while only 40% of independents and 16% of Democrats agreed.