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I read two articles this morning about this subject - both of them from highly experienced journalists in well known publications. In many ways they are saying the same thing - they are very concerned about Journalism in America today. They approach it from different directions Right~vs~Left -- BUT they are worried and they should be very worried if they are concerned at all about the survival of the Press as we "used to know it". We are in uncharted Territory - I've never seen anything like it AND neither have these 2 writers. It's serious business that the Media has lost respect and worse - Lost TRUST. Try to keep an open mind as you read both.
The article in The Atlantic (Left Media) is titled:
Last month, Democratic Senator Ed Markey delivered what seemed like an explosive bit of news during an interview with CNN: A grand jury had been impaneled in New York, he said, to investigate the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia.
The only problem: It wasn’t true.
The precise origins of the rumor are difficult to pin down, but it had been ricocheting around social media for days before Markey’s interview. The story had no reliable sourcing, and not a single credible news outlet touched it—but it had been fervently championed by The Palmer Report, a liberal blog known for peddling conspiracy theories, and by anti-Trump Twitter crusaders like Louise Mensch. Soon enough, prominent people with blue checkmarks by their names were amplifying it with “Big if true”-type Tweets. And by May 11, the story had migrated from the bowels of the internet to the mouth of a United States senator.
After Markey’s office apologized for spreading the unsubstantiated story, there was a mild flurry of articles warning of “fake news” aimed at the left, and then everyone moved on. But the episode jarringly illustrated an under-examined phenomenon in American politics.
In the comments section after the article, most of the Leftists did not like the article - a few were concerned about the direction of Media as I believe the author is concerned.
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The other article I read this morning was in the New York Post written by what I would consider a Conservative or at least leans Right - very, very experienced long time Journalist - Michael Goodman.
I’ve been a journalist for a long time. Long enough to know that it wasn’t always like this. There was a time not so long ago when journalists were trusted and admired. We were generally seen as trying to report the news in a fair and straightforward manner. Today, all that has changed. For that, we can blame the 2016 election or, more accurately, how some news organizations chose to cover it. Among the many firsts, last year’s election gave us the gobsmacking revelation that most of the mainstream media puts both thumbs on the scale—that most of what you read, watch, and listen to is distorted by intentional bias and hostility. I have never seen anything like it. Not even close.
It’s not exactly breaking news that most journalists lean left. I used to do that myself. I grew up at The New York Times, so I’m familiar with the species.
I think it's more interesting to really look at the numbers.
Overall, trust in the media is at an all time low, resting at 32%. Most Americans don't trust the media, and in my humble opinion, that's more important that dividing this into party lines.
By party line, 51% of Democrats, 14% of Republicans, and 30% of Independents (is it a coincidence that Independent's view is more similar to national average? Probably not...) view the media favorably. This means just over half of Democrats trust the media, which has apparently been the case for a while. Last year, 55% of Democrats viewed the media favorably, while 32% of Republicans view the media favorably (and 33% for independents).
The Republicans had the steepest decline.
In 2000, 53% of Democrats and 47% of Republicans trusted the media.
Also worth noting, age demographics play a role, with ages 18-49 having 26% trust, while 50+ has 38% trust (both down from last year, at 36% and 45% respectively).
The poll was conducted with a random sample of 1,020 adults, and has a 4 point margin of error.
Point being, trust in the media is in decline overall. I'd imagine making this about party vs party would ultimately make that trust go down, not up.
The decline in trust is because some people are rational enough to understand that all "media" and "news" has become more a source of editorial content posing as "news" than anything else. Most people can see clearly that everything we are being spoon-fed is a result of the agenda of the particular outlet in question.
Not that "news" can every be truly "objective" in the true sense of the word. Everyone is biased, whether intentionally or subconsciously, and no person has an omniscient viewpoint as no person has access to all possible information.
The only way to get even remotely close to objectivity and "truth" is to absorb as much information from as many very diverse "conflicting" outlets as possible. Taking in as much "garbage" as possible and then trying to makes sense of all of the half-truths and bias, one might get a mere whiff of reality...
The only way to get even remotely close to objectivity and "truth" is to absorb as much information from as many very diverse "conflicting" outlets as possible. Taking in as much "garbage" as possible and then trying to makes sense of all of the half-truths and bias, one might get a mere whiff of reality...
Agreed. Most people are too lazy to do the above. They just pick their favorite outlet(s) that they mostly agree with and then call the other outlets propaganda. We see that right here on this thread. Other people watch biased news outlets, but mine is objective & truthful.
This is something that I have noticed for quite a while now. It seems a lot of people just don't see bias that they agree with. I'm not singling out one side or the other because I see it from both sides. I read often from both sides accusing fox, cnn, msnbc etc. of being biased. The truth is that they all are, and people are attracted to news sources that share their biases. I know I am because I can only listen to sources that I disagree with for so long at a time. Bias can be as simple as preferring one ice cream flavor over another, so bias isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Location: By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea
68,329 posts, read 54,389,283 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phma
Bingo ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ close the thread we have a winner. Move to table 3 for blackjack.
Wow, I didn't even know there was a contest for the most unsupported by anything factual statement.
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