News outlets, print and television, have spent years eroding their brands with biased reporting. I’m not sure they care whether the public notices, but it has. From The Associated Press:
Trust in
the news media is being eroded by perceptions of inaccuracy and bias, fueled in
part by Americans’ skepticism about what they read on social media. Just 6% of
people say they have confidence in the media, putting the news industry about
equal to Congress and well below the public’s view of other institutions. In
this presidential campaign year, Democrats were more likely to trust the news
media than Republicans or independents.
The AP
can’t even report on bias without showing more. Let’s parse that lead. Notice
the phrase “perceptions of inaccuracy and bias.” At newspapers, stories about
suburbanites being afraid to go downtown always use similar language. Never
mind that everybody knows people who have been robbed at gunpoint by “the
perception of crime.” My assistant’s car was once stolen and torched by that
same “perception.”
Then note
“skepticism about what they read on social media.” Everybody should be
skeptical about stories reported mainly through social media. But the sentence
seems to suggest that political partisans taking to Twitter is undermining the
credibility of institutions such as Fox News. That’s a crock.
The poll
was conducted by the Media Insight Progress, a partnership of The
Associated-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the American Press
Institute. The story went on to cite high-profile blunders and retractions such
as Rolling Stone’s discredited story about a gang rape at the University of
Virginia. It discreetly neglected to mention the incessant shilling for – and
against – certain presidential candidates. As the campaign staggers to a
conclusion and individuals’ positions harden, that might turn out to be the
biggest eroder of trust.
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