Opinion by Kip Hansen — October 19, 2024 — 1200 words/5 minutes
If your answer is: “Of course not!” then you are in the majority.
The latest Gallup poll shows less than one-third of people The American people even have considerable trust and confidence in mass media such as newspapers, television, and radio, especially in reporting news comprehensively, accurately, and fairly.
Interestingly, Gallup chose to combine “high trust” and “fair trust” into one category. By the way, this is Actual numerical resultsright on the chart. I dug into the data and found Only 8% trust the media Very good deal. As a journalist, I find this downright embarrassing. [I don’t, however, write for the mass media, even so….]
Things don't get any better when broken down by age:
The fact that 8% (less than 1 in 10) of the public only trusts the news media a lot means that the news media has notoriously given up on its purpose of being an objective source of unbiased and fair information about what's going on in the world Message, or as Wikipedia puts it:
“Journalistic objectivity is about helping viewers make their own decisions about a story by providing only the facts and then letting viewers interpret those facts themselves. To maintain objectivity in news reporting, reporters should report the facts, whether they like or agree with them or not .“
newspaper of record is a national newspaper known for its credibility and quality reporting. In the United States, the list is: new york times, wall street journal and Washington Post. UK: “The Times”, “The Guardian” and Daily Telegraph.
Readers are welcome to comment on these six newspapers. Is there any bias? In which direction? About what topics?
However, my experience is this: new york times Often serves as the propaganda arm of the Democratic National Committee [ DNC ]like washington post. I don't follow British politics, but The Guardian Is a founding partner of the Journalists’ Climate Crisis Propaganda Cabal Immediate climate report, As a result, nothing has been published on this topic except stories designed to scare people, filled with blatantly false and deliberately shocking messages.
According to a survey conducted every few years by Indiana University:
A new survey titled “American Journalists Under Attack” released by Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School of Public Communications shows that the share of Republicans in the profession has declined from 18% in 2002 and 7.1% in 2013 to 2022. 3.4%.
That's significantly lower than the number of U.S. adults who describe themselves as Republicans (26%), according to a 2022 ABC News/Washington Post poll.
In 2022, the share of Democrats in journalism rose 8 points to 36%. [ source ]
National Public Radio [ NPR ] The 1970s were the go-to news source for balanced and fundamentally fair news coverage, leaning only slightly toward the liberal side. According to a report by Uri Berliner, by 2023, “The network lost its way when it started telling its audience how to think.” [ source ] Changes brought about by “…”NPR The extent to which people at all levels easily unite around a progressive worldview. This, I believe, is NPR's most damaging development: its lack of diversity of viewpoints. “
When I let this post sit for a few days, a great story broke out that sums up the issue in no uncertain terms. The New York Times has this to say:
Los Angeles Times editorial director resigns after owner blocks Harris endorsement
“The chairman of the Los Angeles Times editorial board resigned Wednesday after the paper's owner withdrew his presidential support for Vice President Kamala Harris.
This example comes from someone involved:
“Mariel Garza, who holds the title of editorial editor, [ this is the editor who resigned] She said she resigned because “I want to make it clear that I don't agree with our silence. In times of crisis, honest people need to stand up. That's how I stood up.”
“Multiple Sclerosis.” The editorial board had planned to support Ms. Harris, but Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, decided this month that the paper would not offer any support to the president, Garza said.
“It makes us look cowardly and hypocritical, and maybe even a little sexist and racist,” she said [ Garza ] wrote. “How can we spend eight years complaining about the dangers Trump and his leadership pose to the country and then fail to support a completely decent Democratic challenger — whom we previously supported in the U.S. Senate?”
What about the other side of the story? What did the newspaper owner say?
Dr. Pat Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times, said in a social media post on Wednesday: [@DrPatSoonShiong] explain:
“There have been a lot of comments about the @latimes editorial board not providing presidential endorsement this year. Let me clarify how this decision was made.
The Editorial Board has the opportunity to draft a factual analysis of all the positive and negative policies of each candidate's tenure in the White House and how those policies impacted the country. In addition, committees were asked to provide their understanding of the policies and programs articulated by candidates during this campaign and their potential impact on the country over the next four years. In this way, by providing this clear and nonpartisan information side by side, our readers can decide who is qualified to serve as president for the next four years.
Rather than follow this path as recommended, the editorial board chose to remain silent, and I accept their decision. Please #vote. “
Newspaper owners expect editorial boards to do their jobs and do good journalism…providing readers with the information they need to make rational, informed choices.
Editorial editor Mariel Garza candidly admitted that the editors of the Los Angeles Times spent “Eight years of accusations that Trump and his leadership are a danger to the country” [simultaneously demoting Kamala Harris to be a merely “decent Democrat challenger”] When the newspaper boss asked her to do a reporter's job, she resigned in protest …
How dare he?
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Author comments:
This op-ed is about the death of news media journalism.
On politics: I am deeply disgusted by the political situation in the United States, the long-standing two-party system that has short-circuited our carefully crafted democratic federal republic as enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, leaving us with warring political parties that care little about the well-being of citizens. The American people don't get it best candidate Our country has to offer — but each party can only offer one, and party leaders believe this is their best chance at power.
This column is not intended to promote any political movement or endorse any particular candidate.
About journalism: Journalists for newspapers, news magazines, and broadcast news (radio, television, and cable) have mostly given up on journalism because they view it as an outmoded, quaint profession akin to making buggy whips. These modern junior warrior journalists want to tell their audiences how to think, what to think, and what to believe. Most of them have no clue.
Thanks for reading…and for God’s sake, turn the critical thinking knob to the max!
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