Just when you thought that trust in the media couldn’t slink any lower, a new Gallup Poll finds the lowest ever public regard for the media.

Gallup found that confidence in newspapers, television, and radio has fallen to 28%, the first time the measure has slipped below 30%. Meanwhile, 36% of Americans say they have “not very much” confidence, and 34% say “none at all.” Seven in ten Americans lack meaningful trust in mainstream media.

There is a clear partisan divide here. While half of Democrats have trust in the media,  the number was 27% among independents, and only 8% among Republicans. Younger people, who get most of their news online, trust the media even less than their elders.

Can we blame them? Our favorite modern example of the crooked media was the cockeyed reports of “mostly peaceful” protests in the streets of our major cities when Americans could see the chaos, violence and mayhem happening right in front of them and on their TV screens.