Majority of teens hold negative views of news media, says report

Teen distrust and institutions

• Some see teens’ hostility to news as dangerous “reflexive distrust” that makes them manipulable; others say it’s a rational response to institutions that visibly prioritize profit, power, or funding over truth.
• Several commenters argue that younger people have grown up amid widely publicized institutional failures, culture-war news cycles, and conspiracies (some real), making deep cynicism a logical outcome.
• There’s disagreement over whether “the people” are generally wise (democracy-optimistic) or irredeemably ill‑informed and emotional (democracy-skeptical).

Mainstream media vs individual voices

• One side argues institutions, despite flaws, have processes, editors, and potential whistleblowers that make them more trustworthy than lone influencers or bloggers who can go “off the rails” unnoticed and are easily bribed.
• The opposing view: corporations are structurally beholden to advertisers, owners, and political pressures, making them easier to capture than a diverse ecosystem of independent creators, “weird truth-seekers,” and niche experts.
• Others point out that relying on small sources can create echo chambers, while traditional media already offers limited ideological diversity.

Bias, framing, and quality problems

• Complaints include: “both-sides” framing that treats fringe or anti-scientific positions as equal to consensus; editing that makes political actors sound saner than they are; crime coverage that emphasizes sensational anecdotes over trends.
• There are conflicting claims about ideological bias: some say US media leans “far left,” others that compared to Europe it’s right-leaning or overly indulgent of Trump.
• Many feel national outlets overemphasize tragedy, crisis, and macro politics at the expense of useful local reporting.

Alternatives: social media, influencers, satire

• Teens often prefer TikTok, YouTube, and influencers; some see this as even worse—unvetted grifters, bots, and state-influenced algorithms—while others prefer this to corporate gatekeeping.
• Fragmentation means some young people deeply engage primary sources, while others fall into conspiracy or “garbage” feeds.
• Satirical outlets are mentioned as a common teen entry point to media, though brands themselves are seen as hollowed out over time.

Funding, regulation, and fixes

• Proposals include more public funding for independent outlets, or even taxing outlets whose audiences are most misinformed; critics warn this leads toward state-controlled “licensed truth.”
• Education in media literacy and critical thinking in schools is widely suggested as a more acceptable intervention.
• Several note that journalism’s financial collapse and click-driven incentives (“AI slop,” ad farms) underlie much of the decline in quality and trust.