Sunday, December 04, 2016

The mainstream media has beclowned itself

I'm usually a big supporter of Reason Online's blog Hit and Run but this post runs off the tracks: "Why Trump’s War on the Media Matters - Most presidents distrust the news media. Trump wants to undermine it as an institution."

Yes, Trump is stirring the pot on some well-earned criticism on the media for political gain.  But his tactic would fall flat if Americans maintained trust in the media which they most definitely have not:
Americans' trust and confidence in the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly" has dropped to its lowest level in Gallup polling history, with 32% saying they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media.
The post discusses the political polarization of the media but the Gallup data indicates that faith in the press has dropped steadily among independents, whose views are more closely aligned with Republicans than Democrats.  In the most recent poll, Democrats have a 21% gap over independents and a 37% gap over Republicans when it comes to faith in the media.  And why not?  They like what they see.

They should teach Chris Wallace's moderation of the final Presidential debate in journalism school.  That would be a good place to start.

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