If Media Trust Levels Are So Low, Why Record Political Ad Spend?

• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, October, 2024

Trust in TV advertising or in social media advertising in this Presidential election year can yield a fuzzy profile. And yet more money -- advertising-wise -- is being spent than ever before, especially for TV.

It seems not much has changed when it comes to the trust level of social-media platform X since Elon Musk took over the platform formerly known as Twitter in late 2022.

The percentage of U.S. adults that trust the social-media platform “to do what is right” has been generally at or under the 40% mark for both Republican and Democrat affiliated adults.

Around February of this year, all adults -- whether Republicans or Democrats -- were at the 39% to 40% trust level, according to a survey by Morning Consult Intelligence.

But currently Democrat-minded adults have slipped to around 31%, while Republican-minded adults have remained around 40%.

Digging deeper, the Pew Research Center said that in late 2023, only 21% of Republican X users felt the social-media platforms were “mostly bad for American democracy,” while Republican political-associated users in 2021 registered a 60% thumbs-down number.

How much money is X now getting in terms of political advertising? We have no idea. 

But looking at local TV newscasts, we know there has been -- as always during this kind of political season -- nonstop airing of political ads.

Just a week ago, Gallup said Americans' trust in media -- newspapers, television and radio -- remains low. We can assume this means all content -- politically focused TV news stories and advertising.

Only 31% say that they have a “great deal” or “fair amount of trust in the media.”

Since 2016  -- the year Donald Trump first ran for public office -- not much has changed with regard to the overall numbers, with only a 32% confidence level.

This year, it breaks down with Republican-minded users at 12%, Democrat-minded users at a 54% level and independents with a 27% score.

At the same time, there is record political advertising this year -- up nearly 30% from 2020 to around $12.3 billion, according to eMarketer's projections.

Does the sharper rise in dollars help to make up for the ever-declining “trust” level in traditional media -- especially TV, which receives the bulk of political advertising -- around $6 billion?

And if not, what is the alternative for this messaging going forward if both social media and legacy media are not really working all that well?