Likely voters, by a five-to-one margin, believe that America's media is in President Obama's pocket and will treat his candidacy better than challenger Mitt Romney's as the election nears, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll.

The startling numbers point to an even more disturbing trend for the media: Reporters just aren't trusted to deliver the news in an unbiased fashion. The proof: Rasmussen found that when it comes to information about the presidential campaign, 48 percent of likely voters trust friends and family while just 26 percent trust reporters.

The poll of 1,000 was conducted August 9-10 before many more tuned in to the campaign when Romney chose Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate. Since then, many cable reporters and pundits have vocally assailed Ryan.

The poll found that 59 percent of likely voters believe that the media has given Obama better treatment than Romney, a view Team Obama doesn't agree with. Just 18 percent believe the media has treated Romney better.

Looking to the fall election, Rasmussen found that 51 percent believe the media will try to help Obama's reelection while just 9 percent will go to bat for Romney. Some 22 percent believe the media will offer unbiased coverage.

Worse for the media, 74 percent of likely voters believe newsmen and newswomen try to help their favored candidate.

Rasmussen reveals that the public's perception of the press being in Obama's corner is just as bad as it was when he was first elected in 2008. "At that time, 51% of voters felt most reporters had tried to help Obama win the presidency, while only 7% thought they had tried to help Republican candidate John McCain," said Rasmussen.