Today, algorithms designed to keep users endlessly scrolling deliver Americans their news through conflicting headlines, videos stripped of context and a ubiquitous partisan spin.
The instinct, for those that wise up to the doom-cycle, is to disengage. This yearning to unplug is known as “news fatigue,” also defined as the state of feeling overwhelmed by frequent or distressing periods of news consumption.
Americans increasingly find that their trust in legacy news media is becoming impossible to maintain. An October 2025 Gallup survey revealed that only 28% of Americans expressed a “great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the mass media to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” Furthermore, 7 in 10 U.S. adults stated they have “not very much” confidence (36%) or “none at all” (34%) in the media.
Increasing public distrust in news media is giving way to complete disengagement. This exhaustion has become the deliberate outcome of a political strategy that’s reshaped the way information moves through American politics.
Steve Bannon, an adviser to Donald Trump during his first term, openly articulated a strategy called “flooding the zone.” Overwhelming the media is key in advancing political objectives.
“Every day we hit them with three things. They’ll bite on one, and we’ll get all of our stuff done: bang, bang, bang,” Bannon said.
A strategy like this can only thrive off of massive amounts of misinformation, with the goal of making voters question reality. “Flooding the zone” has been compared to predigital Soviet-era propaganda techniques.
Trump is also known for employing a debate style known as Gish gallop. The technique involves a barrage of lies and half-truths intended to overwhelm the opponent and fact-checking frameworks. He utilizes a Gish gallop-style of communication in debates and when talking to the press.
Both the Gish gallop and “flooding the zone” strategies expose the Trump administration’s reliance on a massive volume of misinformation to paralyze the public and news media.
The established system that facilitates informational exchange between the White House and the press historically relied on the understanding that the news media would hold the administration in question accountable for the missteps and deceptions it committed. This is made extremely difficult when a majority of information coming out of the Trump administration is intended to paralyze these established systems.
News literacy is the antidote to the over-exposed, distrusting public that the Trump administration has worked so hard to cultivate. Organizations like the News Literacy Project are working to target cynical, blanket distrust that Americans have for legacy news institutions.
True news literacy does not mean to judge reporting by the legacy logo it’s attached to. It means learning patterns that distinguish journalism from manipulation. An expert in news literacy has the ability to distinguish credible reporting based on its adherence to journalistic standards.
The media must also evolve to address its declining reputation in the court of public trust. Rebuilding public confidence requires newsrooms to adopt transparency and utilize standards built around showing their work, explaining their ethical standards and clearly separating verified reporting from social media noise.
“If we, as journalists, take a moment to explain what we’re doing, talk about what we’re doing, listen to our audience more … These trust issues can take a 180-degree turn and we can regain some of the trust we’ve lost,” said Lynn Walsh, investigative journalist and assistant director of Trusting News.
Retreating from news consumption can feel, and sometimes is, a necessary step to protect peace of mind in the short term. Staying disconnected, though, is abandoning the press to those who have the most to gain by manipulating it beyond recognition. The progress of those who wish to keep America misinformed is dependent on the public’s apathy.
Curing news fatigue requires skeptical engagement. Making democracy function for everyone means persevering in the pursuit of good news, with transparency.
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Daniel High is a staff writer for The Express. Follow him on Instagram @danielhigh05.
