Last week, Gallup published a poll that showed Americans don’t have much confidence in the media. Only 54% of Democrats, 27% of independents, and 12% of Republicans trust “mass media,” defined by Gallup as “newspapers, TV and radio,” when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
Well, there’s one problem. Define accurately and fairly. Those are subjective terms often pasted into mission statements to project the embrace of journalistic morality and high standards. But do they have any meaning when so many outlets report the news through filters that seem to exclusively favor one side of the political divide? Perhaps that’s why the public is increasingly disaffected.
So how much longer can these behemoths survive as the public’s confidence in them dwindles? Is this just a trendy three-year low, a prolonged hiccup,…
