We need more data communication not data visualization

Public trust in the media and in data has been undercut by information overload, relentless social media cycles, and targeted influence campaigns. Whether driven by politics, social movements, or commercial interests, the credibility of what we see and hear is under threat. By thinking through the ways that we’ve lost our trust, we might find more ways to reverse the trend and bring people back together.

Last month, Gallup released the latest results of a survey on trust in the media that began in 1972. It showed that current confidence in the mass media is at a new historic low. A majority trusting public in 1972 has now flipped to being a majority distrustful public in 2025.

As with most data sets, the subtleties are more complicated. During the first Trump administration, trust rebounded significantly—and then backslid to its lowest point ever after the pandemic. Looking at the data from a partisan lens, overall trust fell across all three groups, with Republicans being