- Share - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://about.ebsco.com/markdownify/node/162736) - []() - []() - []() # What's the "Walter Cronkite" of Clinical Decision Support? As individuals and as a society, we place trust in clinicians to obtain the most trustworthy evidence and use that to inform practice. ![image of news anchor and camera with "From the desk of Dr. Z, Editor-in-Chief, DynaMed"](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/36e2fd1e-9568-4ede-a51a-2303fe86dbdd/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-february-blog-image-780.png) [Roy Ziegelstein, MD, MACP](/health-notes/bio/roy-ziegelstein-md-macp) 11 February 2026 Walter Cronkite, who anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, was named “the most trusted man in America” in a 1972 poll. Not the most trusted news reporter or the most trusted person on television: the most trusted ***man*** in America. Sadly, Americans’ trust in the news is currently at its lowest level in history; a [recent Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/695762/trust-media-new-low.aspx) found that only 28 percent of adults in the U.S. trust the news. ![Americans' Trust in Mass Media, 1972-2025 graph](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/e27ffedb-d0cf-45af-a03e-f586486d9bc2/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-gallup-1-february-blog-image-780.png) Gallup: Trust in Media at New Low of 28% in U.S. October 2, 2025 Another [Gallup poll](https://news.gallup.com/poll/692633/democrats-confidence-institutions-sinks-new-low.aspx) found that television news – where Walter Cronkite made his mark – was ranked only above Congress in the confidence Americans have in U.S. institutions. ![Americans' Confidence in 18 US Institutions graph](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/00883a64-3129-4166-a42d-7004edddf231/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-gallup-2-february-blog-image-780.png) Gallup: Democrats' Confidence in U.S. Institutions Sinks to New Low July 17, 2025 [https://news.gallup.com/poll/692633/democrats-confidence-institutions-s…](https://news.gallup.com/poll/692633/democrats-confidence-institutions-sinks-new-low.aspx) A recent [Pew Research Center analysis ](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/05/13/what-is-news/#:~:text=%E2%80%9C%5BNews%20is%5D%20based%20in,an%20event%20or%20an%20incident.%E2%80%9D&text=Journalists%20referred%20to%20high%2Dquality,how%20participants%20navigate%20news%20online.)noted that people, “make clear distinctions between factual reporting and personal opinion, further emphasizing an idea of news as ‘just the facts.’” Trust is important with respect to so much of what we do every day. Without trust, we would never fly in a plane, put money in a bank, or eat in a restaurant… and we would certainly never take advice from a health care provider. As individuals and as a society, we place trust in clinicians to obtain the most trustworthy evidence and use that to inform their recommendations. We trust clinicians to make clear distinctions between facts and personal opinion, much as people expect that from high-quality news reporting. Making this distinction is not just important for the public trust, it is *required* to ensure patient safety. The Gallup poll found that the public is not confident in this distinction with the news, and unfortunately clinicians are increasingly finding that when they seek clinical decision support (CDS), they are often presented with opinion even when inconsistent with expert-vetted evidence, sometimes with paid advertisement for the very medication recommended in a CDS response! Perhaps the next Gallup survey will ask if Americans believe their health care provider is using the most trustworthy CDS tool… or better yet, “What’s the ‘Walter Cronkite’ of Clinical Decision Support?” Roy Ziegelstein, MD, MACP Editor in Chief, DynaMed [Read more about Dr. Z](https://about.ebsco.com/health-notes/bio/roy-ziegelstein-md-macp) Hear more about *Why we should (and shouldn’t) trust AI in clinical care* in this [webinar](https://ebsco.zoom.us/webinar/register/8117697834369/WN_KrDSH4iDRKOUzWWvYbkW1Q#/registration) Connect with Dr. Z on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-ziegelstein-703ba238b/) ### Learn more about DynaMed’s evidence-based process [ About DynaMedex ](https://www.dynamedex.com/about) Category: [From Our EIC ](/blogs/health-notes/category/from-our-eic) Tags: [From the Desk of Dr. Z](/blogs/health-notes/tag/from-the-desk-of-dr.-z) [Clinical decision support](/blogs/health-notes/tag/clinical-decision-support) - Share - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://about.ebsco.com/markdownify/node/162736) - []() - []() - []() ## Related Posts [ ![From the desk of Dr Z series](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/52e944d6-42b0-4cb1-9b8f-d9fe2d443e57/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-january-780.jpg "From the desk of Dr Z series") ](/blogs/health-notes/fast-break) [A Fast Break](/blogs/health-notes/fast-break) 14 January 2026 [ ![image of a medical professional on a phone with an overlay of x-rays and graphs ](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/edd589b6-eb4e-4455-b335-b4fac751c121/20251210_DynaMed_UptoDateBlog_340x190.png) ](/blogs/health-notes/dynamed-vs-uptodate-ai-clinical-decision-support-tools-comparison) [DynaMed vs UpToDate: AI Clinical Decision Support Tools Comparison](/blogs/health-notes/dynamed-vs-uptodate-ai-clinical-decision-support-tools-comparison) 22 December 2025 [ ![From the desk of Dr. Z series: close-up of a doctor's hands on the patient's hands, comforting him](https://assets.ebsco.com/asset/a6434ffd-8447-489b-b9ba-8f5bbb6fd325/From-the-Desk-of-Dr-Z-december.png "From the desk of Dr. Z series: close-up of a doctor's hands on the patient's hands, comforting him") ](/blogs/health-notes/its-about-time) [It’s About Time](/blogs/health-notes/its-about-time) 10 December 2025