YouGov Poll: CNN Most Polarizing News Source

CNN is viewed as the most politically polarizing news source by the American public, according to a new poll from YouGov.

YouGov asked Americans if they trust, distrust, or neither trust nor distrust 56 media organizations. From the results, YouGov determined each outlet’s net trust score, gauging how much more likely Americans are to say the outlet is trustworthy or very trustworthy than untrustworthy or very untrustworthy. 

The poll found a 92-point difference between Democrats’ net trust (plus-55) and Republicans’ net trust (minus-37) in CNN. Similarly, the poll found a 91-point difference between how Democrats (plus-54) and Republicans (minus-37) view MSNBC, one of CNN’s top cable competitors, and an 82-point difference in how they view the New York Times (plus-53 vs. minus-30).

The YouGov poll was conducted among 1,500 U.S. adults from April 3-9 and has a 3% margin of error.

CNN has been making a lot of news recently.

CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker resigned after admitting to a workplace affair that was against company policy.

Two months before, Zucker fired CNN’s star prime-time anchor Chris Cuomo for improperly advising his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, about how to address his sexual misconduct allegations.

CNN legal affairs analyst Jeffrey Toobin was let go for appearing to bust masturbate on a Zoom call, and CNN’s opinionated media commentator Brian Stelter was also terminated. Most recently, anchor Don Lemon was fired for controversial remarks on air.

CNN is a year into new corporate management with Warner Bros. Discovery, which hired ex-CBS producer Chris Licht to run the network. The chief goal has been to rebuild trust as a non-partisan news brand, Licht has said.

But CNN faces stiff competition from other networks like MSNBC.

“MSNBC, in touting its biggest audience advantage over CNN in nearly four years, said that its viewers watched the network an average of 381 minutes per week during the first three months of 2023, compared to 183 minutes for CNN,” the Associated Press wrote.

Meanwhile, CNN is having a town hall on Wednesday with former President Donald Trump, who famously called CNN “fake news.”