Task 1b: American people's trust in mass-media

Outline of the texts

Task 1b asks you to briefly comment on Noah C. Beaumond’s statement, using the information in the included graph.

In his statement, store manager Noah C. Beaumond explains that he does not believe mainstream media to be impartial and prefers taking his news from social media rather than from newspapers.

The graph shows American people’s trust in mass-media from 1997 to 2015, according to their political orientation. The general trend is one of decline in the trust of mass media. However, Democrats have had and continue to have more trust in mass media compared to independents and Republicans. In 1997, the trust in mass media was 64% among Democrats, 53% among independents, and 41% among Republicans. In 2015, trust in mass media was 51% among Democrats, 30% among independents, and 14% among Republicans.

Comment

Store manager Noah C. Beaumond’s statement shows that he deeply distrusts mainstream media: “I don’t follow the mainstream media anymore. They have an agenda! They’re not neutral so how do I know that what ...