At The Hill Joe Concha reports that Americans just don’t trust the news media, darn it:
The U.S. media is the least trustworthy in the world, according to a comprehensive new Reuters Institute survey encompassing 46 countries.
Yes, you read that right. The country with among the most resources in this arena – human, technical and otherwise – finished dead last. Finland ranked the highest, with a 65 percent trust rating. In Kenya, the trust rating clocked in at 61 percent.
But here in the U.S.A., the home of global media giants including the New York Times, Washington Post and CNN, we’re trusted by a whopping 29 percent of those reading and watching.
There are any number of possible explanations, including
- Trump (or Obama, Biden, Bush, or Clinton, depending on your political views)
- Fox News (or CNN, the NYT, etc. depending on your political views)
- Social media
- Media consolidation
- We’re deluged with infomation
- No man is a hero to his valet.
and so on. But I think it’s more basic.
First, declining trust in the news media has been going on for some time—at least 40 years. That’s before Trump was elected president or Fox News or Facebook even existed. Second, the Brits, French, and Taiwanese don’t trust their own news media, either.
I think it’s more basic than that. Years ago the 5Ws and an H (who, what, where when, why, and how) stopped being taught in journalism schools in favor of point-of-view reporting. Every story had to be an unfolding narrative with a clear point-of-view. IMO that’s a formula for biased reporting and loss of trust in the media is a predictable outcome.
What’s a person to do? If you’re a news junkie, you can cast a wide net, become aware of the biases of your sources, and take those biases into account. In reality most people don’t have the time or interest to do that and recognizing bias can be darned hard. It include not only what you cover and how but what you don’t cover, what you don’t say.
There are relatively unbiased news sources. These include Reuters, the Associated Press, Axios, the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal. Note I said news sources. Some of those sources are unbiased in their news reporting but have clear biases in their opinion reporting. Also, be aware that the bias you detect may be your own.
“First, declining trust in the news media has been going on for some time—at least 40 years.â€
As Ive noted before. The modest trusted man in America fessed up later in life.
The Associated Press????? I’m willing to give that a try, because as you say its news vs opinion. But the AP wouldn’t make my list. But that gets to the real point. Knowing what you are consuming. If you tune in Sean Hannity or Rachel Maddow its not news, its opinion. Hannity will flat out say it. Maddow, not so much. And as for CNN, there are lies and damned lies. And as you point out, its often what’s not reported or said where the bias resides. Personally I’m more interested in the guests and the quality of their evidence and arguments. Not the talking point parrots, but those who have real insights and perspective.
The real disappointment are the traditional sources: the major TV networks, the Times and the Post. Their franchises are too far gone for words. NBC just ran a piece on how an increase in traffic fatalities is evidence of structural racism. Not, shall we say, inspiring.
As the NYT, WaPo, NBC, ABC…………. tell us.
Any notion of election irregularities is pure conspiracy theory from nutjobs.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ny-mayoral-candidate-eric-adams-demands-explanation-over-irregularities-after-board
When ABC hired George Stephanopoulos as a news anchor it was a shot across the bow. It’s a bit late to be worrying about the network’s credibility at this point.
40 years, 50 years, it all runs together at this point.
The NYT and the Roosevelt Administration working together to groom the news is well-documented. That would push it back at least 80 years.
I’m not worrying. I just don’t watch. But it creates a societal problem when there is no one to call BS on government disinformation. Worse yet when the press are willing participants.
When Walter Cronkite was doing it people still believed in the press. The hiring of Stephie was a watershed event. And yet, I’ll bet he and ABC still consider themselves straight news.