A well-informed public, sustained by a free and independent press, has long been considered one of the most vital pillars of a healthy democracy in the modern world. And yet today, in the United States, this pillar is in danger of collapsing, as fewer and fewer Americans express positive trust in “the media” as a whole. In this 30-minute episode of America Speaks, political analyst and pollster Dr. Frank Luntz asks Americans how they think news media companies performed in recent coverage of key topics, including the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. Their replies reveal Americans’ lack of trust in the news media industry, and more profoundly, the underlying distrust and suspicion they have of each other.