[url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/21/faith-in-scientists_n_4481487.html?utm_hp_ref=science]Article[/url] [quote]How much faith do Americans have in scientists and science journalists? Not a whole lot, a new survey finds. In a new HuffPost/YouGov poll, only 36 percent of Americans reported having "a lot" of trust that information they get from scientists is accurate and reliable. Fifty-one percent said they trust that information only a little, and another 6 percent said they don't trust it at all. Science journalists fared even worse in the poll. Only 12 percent of respondents said they had a lot of trust in journalists to get the facts right in their stories about scientific studies. Fifty-seven percent said they have a little bit of trust, while 26 percent said they don't trust journalists at all to accurately report on scientific studies. What’s more, many Americans worry that the results of scientific studies are sometimes tainted by political ideology -- or by pressure from the studies’ corporate sponsors. A whopping 78 percent of Americans think that information reported in scientific studies is often (34 percent) or sometimes (44 percent) influenced by political ideology, compared to only 18 percent who said that happens rarely (15 percent) or never (3 percent).[/quote] Given the recent trend of schools emphasizing the STEM fields, you would think that the American public would be more trusting of science. Or maybe the reason why we've started focusing on these subjects is because of the mistrust in science. I wonder exactly what the study means by "science journalist", though. I wonder if people who took the poll confused them with news reporters who often sensationalize scientific news.