Media Trust in US vs Europe

A new Harris Poll that was taken in Europe, as well as here in the U.S., shows that Europeans trust the media more than Americans do:

A new Harris Poll measures the levels of trust which Americans have in important institutions, and compares the results with those in a virtually identical European survey. For many institutions the levels of trust, or distrust, on both sides of the Atlantic were similar. There were also some striking differences. Americans showed much less trust than Europeans in the media and in the United Nations. On the other hand, Americans, more than Europeans, trust religious institutions.

Surely the reason for this is that we have far more media choices in America. When there are fewer choices, especially when they are more strictly controlled by the gov't, people don't have the opportunity to hear a diversity of ideas. For example, if the Old Media still had a monopoly (remember that?), we may tend to be less cynical of the media. But interject the free flow of ideas from a wide array of information sources such as our privately owned and operated press outlets, (cable, talk radio and the internet) and the establishment becomes less trusted. The Old Media in America long for those good old days.

This is just one reason the leftist elites are so enamored with the "enlightened" European modus operandi. Control the media and you can, to a larger extent, control what people believe.

It shouldn't be too surprising that Europeans favor the UN, since Socialism abounds over there. If they had a freer press, maybe even their socialistic ideals would be weakened. But then, maybe not. They may be too entrenched in cradle to the grave gov't programs.

And is it any surprise that Secular Europe has less trust of religious institutions than we do here in America?