Two Americas on everything

Why it matters: Democratic institutions have long functioned on trust that is vanishing before our eyes, with the institutions looking similarly vulnerable.

By the numbers, per the poll: 47% of Americans say they struggle to determine whether information is true.

• Democrats and Republicans both struggle with this process, although they turn to very different gatekeepers.
• Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they often come across one-sided information and about six in 10 say they regularly see conflicting reports about the same set of facts from different sources, according to AP.

Between the lines: Democrats are more likely to say they rely on scientists and academics, while Republicans are more likely to trust what they hear from President Trump.

• But majorities have little to no confidence in information they get about the government from social media, the president, members of Congress and businesses, the poll found.

Of note: The poll was conducted Oct. 15–28 of 1,032 adults using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel that's designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is ±4.2 percentage points.

Go deeper:

• 70% of Democrats say politics makes them angry
• Impeachment's dueling echo chambers
• Big-money investors are propping up partisan local media