“As part of Knight Foundation’s belief that a strong Fourth Estate is paramount to a thriving democracy, the organization has worked with Gallup to study Americans’ trust in the news media, consistently finding that their level of confidence is driven by perceptions of news organizations’ accuracy, bias and transparency. However, a new report finds that there are additional factors that contribute to Americans’ trust in the media. “American Views: Trust, Media and Democracy, Part 2” explores the disconnect between newsrooms’ efforts to rebuild the public’s trust and the continued decline of confidence in that effort by posing questions that distinguish between the practical and emotional dimensions of trust. [See also American Views 2022: Part 1]. The findings show that “emotional trust” in news organizations is meaningfully linked to whether people want to pay to receive news coverage and to how they feel in general about the state of American democracy. “This data offers further evidence that sustainable journalism begins and ends with trust,” said Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen. “We believe a citizenry that trusts the news is more informed, more engaged and better prepared to participate meaningfully in our democracy.” The new survey of about 5,600 Americans demonstrates that more than twice as many Americans have higher emotional trust in local news than in national news. Americans believe journalists working for national news organizations are competent but are concerned about their intentions and see local news organizations as caring more about the impact of their reporting. They also believe that the increased amount of available information makes it harder for them to be well-informed and, for those that rely on digital platforms rather than television or print, trust in the media overall is lower.”