Political Split in Ability to Discern Fake News

Is the news real or fake? Can you tell the difference? Only 50 percent of Americans think they can, according to a Gallup survey, down from 66 percent who thought they could in 1984. Gallup asked the public which of these two statements comes closest to how they feel...

• "Although there is some bias in the news media, there are enough sources of news to be able to sort out the facts." 
• or, "There is so much bias in the news media that it's often difficult to sort out the facts."

While only half of Americans believe they can sort out the facts, there are big differences by political identification. Most Democrats believe there can determine the facts. Most Republicans say it's difficult.

Percent who say there are enough news sources to sort out facts
Democrats: 72%
Independents: 46%
Republicans: 31%

Percent who say there's so much bias it's difficult to sort out facts
Democrats: 26%
Independents: 51%
Republicans: 67%

Source: Gallup, Americans Struggle to Navigate the Modern Media Landscape