Poll: N.J. residents believe media bias, ‘fake’ news rampant

A new survey of Garden State residents shows growing distrust of standard news sources. 

The Stockton University poll found a majority of those surveyed said the news is biased. 

“Across the board, there was a strong feeling that — especially cable news, newspapers, online news, social media — majorities are saying  they are biased,” said John Froonjian, who helped conduct the poll for the university’s William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy. “Fifty percent said so about broadcast networks and radio.”

The survey determined that 85 percent of the survey respondents are very or somewhat concerned that what they’re hearing or reading may be “fake” news.

That doesn’t bode well for the future of newspapers, Froonjian said.

“About 65 percent of those 18 to 29 get their news either from online news websites, social media such as Facebook, Twitter,” he said. “Literally almost none of the 18- to 29-year-olds are reading print newspapers.”

The poll of 786 adult New Jersey residents was conducted between Feb. 15 and  21. Its margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.