Nearly half of Americans say journalists 'losing influence in society': poll

Nearly half of Americans say journalists are "losing influence in society," according a new Pew Research Center poll.

A total of 49% of U.S. adults believe that journalists are losing influence in society, compared with 15% who say they are gaining influence, and 36% who find that they are neither gaining nor losing influence, per the survey released Thursday. 

However, 59% of the respondents said journalists are extremely or very important to the well-being of society, with 31% believing journalists are somewhat important, and just 9% say they are not too or not at all important.

The top traits that Americans want in their news providers are honesty (93%), intelligence (89%), and authenticity (82%), according to the poll.

While 63% of U.S. adults say that most journalists are intelligent, and 58% believe they are well-intentioned, another 58% say they are biased. Broken down by political party, 74% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe journalists are biased, compared to 45% of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents.

Reporting the news accurately is what 85% of both Democrats and Republicans want the people they get news from to definitely do in their daily work.

The survey was conducted April 14-20, of more than 9,000 Americans and in online focus groups with 45 U.S. adults.