Poll: Majority of registered voters see mainstream media as a ‘threat to democracy’

Data released from a New York Times/Siena poll has found that registered voters believe the media is a “threat” to democracy. 

The poll results were released on Tuesday, and they showed that 71% of the 792 of those polled thought that “American democracy is currently under threat.”

Among those who feel this way, 84% of them, or roughly 60% of all registered voters, perceive “mainstream media” as a credible threat. A majority, 59%, referred to the media as a “major threat to democracy” while an additional 25% call it a “minor threat to democracy.” Only 15% who believe democracy is under threat did not blame the media.

Registered voters are united in this stance against the media despite their party affiliation. 95% of Republicans, 83% of Independents and even 70% of Democrats who believe democracy is under threat say the media poses some level of threat.

However, while 80% of Republicans and 53% of Independents call the media a “major” threat, just 38% of Democrats feel this way.

Those polled believe that Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Republicans, Democrats, the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, voting by mail and voting machines are all outranked by the media when it comes to threatening democracy.

67% of those registered voters collectively view Trump as a threat to democracy and 84% of registered democrats polled said Trump was a “major threat.” 60% of those registered voters collectively said the same thing about Biden with 78% of those Republicans calling the current president a “major threat.”

70% of those independents view Trump as some sort of threat to democracy while 62% of them have the same view about Biden.

Democrats who say democracy is under threat cited the Supreme Court and the Electoral College as clear threats while Republicans looked towards the federal government, voting by mail and voting machines as threats.