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Confidence in the Press, Television and other Institutions

These data are from the General Social Surveys, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago. Beginning in 1972, surveys were annual except for 1979, 1981 and 1992. Starting in 1994, the surveys became biennial. The surveys are based on a national area probability sample of noninstitutionalized adults with sample sizes ranging from about 1,500 for the first 19 surveys to about 3,000 in 1994 and thereafter. Data are collected through in-person interviews. The questionnaire contains a standard core of demographic and attitudinal questions plus certain topics of special interest, which may rotate.

I am going to name some institution in this country. As far as the people running these institutions are concerned, would you say you have a great deal of confidence, only some confidence, or hardly any confidence at all in them?

(Response categories: A great deal of confidence; Only some confidence: Hardly any confidence at all; Dont Know.)

A GREAT DEAL OF CONFIDENCE
Year
Major Companies
Organized Religion
Education
Federal Government*
Organized
Labor
Press
Medicine
TV
U.S. Supreme Court
Scientific Community
Congress
Military
Banks & Financial Institutions
1973
   29.2%
    34.5%
    36.9%
    28.9%
    15.5%
    22.7%
    53.8%
    18.2%
    30.9%
    37.0%
      3.3%
    31.9%
No Data
1974
31.3
44.5
49.0
13.6
19.0
25.5
61.0
23.0
33.0
45.4
16.9
39.3
No Data
1975
19.4
23.9
31.0
13.1
9.6
23.8
51.0
17.9
30.4
37.3
13.2
34.7
31.4
1976
21.2
30.2
37.7
13.1
11.5
28.3
54.6
18.2
34.1
42.7
13.3
39.8
39.0
1977
27.1
39.6
40.5
27.5
14.8
24.8
52.8
17.6
35.9
41.3
19.1
36.3
42.0
1978
21.2
30.6
28.3
12.2
11.3
19.8
45.8
14.4
28.6
35.6
12.8
29.6
32.0
1980
26.9
35.1
29.9
12.0
15.1
22.0
53.2
15.2
24.3
41.0
8.9
28.3
31.9
1982
20.6
32.8
35.2
17.2
13.5
18.3
44.7
15.4
29.7
35.3
12.8
29.2
25.7
1983
24.3
28.6
28.4
13.5
8.5
13.3
51.9
12.4
27.3
41.9
9.9
30.1
23.4
1984
30.7
30.7
27.9
18.7
8.5
17.5
51.0
13.2
33.5
44.5
12.8
36.6
30.5
1986
24.7
25.0
28.1
21.3
8.8
18.6
46.8
14.8
30.4
39.5
16.2
31.2
20.7
1987
28.1
29.7
35.9
17.4
11.9
18.6
51.4
11.7
35.0
41.4
15.9
34.6
27.4
1988
24.8
20.6
29.6
16.5
10.9
18.9
52.6
14.2
35.1
39.3
15.9
34.7
26.9
1989
24.9
21.7
30.2
20.6
9.3
16.6
47.4
13.8
34.6
41.0
17.5
32.8
18.5
1990
25.6
22.7
26.7
23.9
10.7
14.5
45.2
13.7
34.4
37.8
15.7
33.2
16.7
1991
19.9
25.1
29.8
26.6
11.4
16.1
47.9
14.7
37.5
40.0
17.7
60.6
12.0
1993
21.3
22.6
22.3
11.4
7.7
10.7
40.4
11.6
30.2
37.6
6.5
41.2
14.5
1994
26.3
25.0
25.6
11.2
10.6
10.0
42.6
9.6
31.2
39.2
8.0
37.6
18.1
1996
24.0
25.3
23.3
9.8
11.1
10.6
45.2
10.5
28.3
39.8
7.2
38.6
24.5
1998
26.5
26.6
26.9
13.4
10.9
9.0
45.0
10.0
31.2
39.7
10.4
36.4
26.0
2000
28.4
27.6
27.2
13.5
13.0
10.0
44.6
10.3
32.4
41.5
12.6
39.7
29.5
2002
17.2
18.9
25.8
27.3
11.7
9.9
37.2
9.4
36.0
37.2
13.7
55.9
22.3
2004
18.4
23.5
28.8
21.7
12.9
8.9
37.8
10.2
31.7
41.8
14.7
58.3
29.3


ONLY SOME CONFIDENCE
Year
Major Companies
Organized Religion
Education
Federal Government*
Organized Labor
Press
Medicine
TV
U.S. Supreme Court
Scientific Community
Congress
Military
Banks & Financial Institutions
1973
    53.4%
    46.4%
    54.1%
    51.1%
    54.8%
    61.5%
    39.6%
    59.2%
    50.9%
    47.6%
    58.8%
    49.1%
No Data
1974
51.1
42.8
41.7
42.3
53.4
55.9
33.1
58.2
47.9
37.7
59.3
44.5
No Data
1975
53.7
48.2
54.5
55.6
54.7
55.1
39.7
56.9
46.9
45.6
58.4
46.9
55.0
1976
52.5
45.3
45.1
59.5
48.5
51.9
35.0
52.7
45.1
38.8
58.2
41.0
49.0
1977
56.8
45.7
50.2
55.5
50.8
58.0
40.4
56.1
49.9
46.1
61.0
50.9
48.0
1978
59.5
48.3
55.3
59.2
46.6
58.5
44.5
53.2
52.8
49.1
62.9
54.6
55.1
1980
54.3
43.1
56.3
51.0
51.3
57.9
38.0
55.2
51.0
43.4
54.2
52.0
50.6
1982
59.7
49.4
51.2
54.0
54.9
59.7
47.0
59.1
54.7
48.8
61.3
53.9
55.5
1983
58.4
50.1
56.6
54.1
48.7
59.6
40.3
57.6
54.7
46.8
64.6
54.1
58.8
1984
58.2
47.4
60.0
50.6
53.2
58.5
42.7
56.9
50.9
44.2
64.2
48.7
56.6
1986
62.3
51.1
59.8
53.7
47.6
53.7
44.7
55.5
52.6
48.4
61.8
53.0
60.5
1987
57.9
49.2
54.6
50.8
52.3
56.0
42.0
59.3
50.7
44.6
62.6
50.1
57.1
1988
60.3
47.6
59.7
53.3
50.2
53.5
40.5
58.6
50.6
47.9
61.6
49.7
57.3
1989
60.5
45.9
58.5
54.7
51.2
54.3
44.7
54.2
50.8
44.9
58.3
50.3
59.2
1990
59.9
48.8
58.4
49.8
53.6
56.8
47.0
57.7
48.5
47.1
58.5
49.6
58.6
1991
62.3
53.2
55.2
49.8
48.6
53.2
43.3
54.2
46.0
46.9
54.2
32.0
52.0
1993
63.2
50.1
57.7
53.2
53.7
48.9
50.3
51.1
52.7
48.1
50.2
45.7
56.6
1994
61.6
51.8
56.5
51.9
52.6
49.4
46.9
50.2
49.9
49.4
50.5
48.6
61.0
1996
59.0
50.9
57.1
44.7
50.7
46.8
45.1
45.8
49.5
45.0
47.1
47.7
56.7
1998
56.7
51.9
55.1
48.3
52.4
46.1
44.8
49.8
50.4
45.2
56.3
48.5
55.9
2000
57.5
49.5
56.2
48.5
51.3
46.7
45.1
46.8
49.3
43.7
55.0
47.6
54.6
2002
63.8
56.2
57.9
50.6
59.6
46.7
51.0
47.5
49.6
48.3
58.9
36.1
58.3
2004
62.8
52.3
56.9
46.5
54.0
47.4
49.8
47.0
52.3
48.6
58.6
33.0
56.9


HARDLY ANY CONFIDENCE
Year
Major Companies
Organized Religion
Education
Federal Government*
Organized Labor
Press
Medicine
TV
U.S. Supreme Court
Scientific Community
Congress
Military
Banks & Financial Institutions
1973
    11.3%
    15.9%
    7.9%
    18.2%
    26.1%
    14.4%
    5.8%
    21.6%
    15.2%
    6.0%
    15.3%
    16.6%
No Data
1974
14.3
10.9
8.2
42.0
25.3
17.6
4.6
17.8
15.0
6.8
20.9
13.8
No Data
1975
21.7
21.4
12.8
29.0
29.6
18.4
7.7
22.7
18.4
6.7
25.4
14.1
10.6
1976
21.9
18.3
15.4
24.7
32.6
18.2
9.2
27.5
15.5
7.5
26.0
13.3
9.8
1977
12.4
11.2
8.5
13.9
30.9
15.3
5.6
24.9
10.5
5.0
17.0
10.1
8.4
1978
15.7
17.6
15.4
25.7
37.4
20.0
9.1
30.9
15.0
7.6
21.4
12.8
11.7
1980
14.1
18.0
12.1
34.3
28.8
17.4
7.6
28.2
19.8
6.9
33.5
16.1
15.2
1982
15.0
14.8
12.0
26.4
27.5
19.8
7.3
24.3
12.5
7.0
24.0
14.6
16.6
1983
13.3
17.6
13.4
29.4
39.1
25.2
6.6
28.3
14.5
5.4
22.8
12.9
15.6
1984
8.2
18.7
10.3
28.1
36.3
22.4
5.6
28.9
12.6
5.7
21.3
12.1
10.7
1986
9.5
20.7
10.9
22.6
38.8
26.0
7.3
28.4
13.8
7.0
19.6
13.3
17.0
1987
9.9
18.1
8.4
28.5
30.7
23.2
5.6
27.5
10.3
7.3
18.6
12.5
13.4
1988
10.7
28.8
8.7
26.5
33.9
24.6
5.8
26.1
10.1
5.2
19.2
12.3
13.4
1989
9.5
29.4
10.2
20.4
33.4
26.6
6.8
29.9
9.9
6.0
21.1
13.2
19.2
1990
11.0
23.7
13.2
23.1
30.6
25.3
6.7
26.9
12.8
6.7
22.7
13.9
22.2
1991
13.1
19.6
13.7
21.3
34.6
29.4
7.6
30.5
12.7
6.8
25.6
5.6
34.1
1993
12.1
24.4
18.4
32.6
32.4
38.6
8.2
36.3
13.4
6.9
41.2
11.4
26.9
1994
9.2
21.1
17.0
35.1
32.0
39.3
9.9
39.4
15.8
6.9
39.4
11.8
19.8
1996
13.0
19.0
18.5
42.2
30.1
39.9
8.5
41.6
17.2
7.8
42.7
10.4
16.5
1998
12.8
18.4
16.9
35.5
29.0
42.6
8.8
38.6
14.0
8.1
30.3
12.7
15.9
2000
10.2
18.4
15.6
33.7
26.1
41.0
9.0
41.4
12.5
7.4
27.8
9.5
13.7
2002
16.6
23.1
15.5
20.2
23.4
41.7
11.1
42.1
10.9
8.4
25.0
6.6
17.6
2004
17.2
22.4
14.3
30.5
28.1
43.5
12.0
42.5
14.7
6.3
25.7
8.3
13.0

*Executive Branch

Note: Don't Know as a response is not shown.

Source: General Social Surveys, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago




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