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"I can have an argument with somebody who doesn't think it's worthwhile for us to sacrifice economic growth in order to reduce carbon emissions. It's much harder to have a debate with somebody who doesn't believe that the planet is getting warmer despite the ~~fact~~ ^{published claim} that 99 out of 100 scientists say it is. … When you don’t have ~~a common set of facts~~ ^{absolute propaganda control of the political narrative,} it’s hard to ~~have, then, a basic democratic conversation~~ ^{railroad through your agenda without opposition.} ”

Half the truth is often a great lie. - Benjamin Franklin
That being the case, the fact that nobody tells “the whole truth” because they don’t have time (or space, in a newspaper) means that every report must be taken with a grain of salt:
The natural disposition is always to believe. It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing. The man whom we believe is necessarily, in the things concerning which we believe him, our leader and director, and we look up to him with a certain degree of esteem and respect. But as from admiring other people we come to wish to be admired ourselves; so from being led and directed by other people we learn to wish to become ourselves leaders and directors. . . .
The desire of being believed, the desire of persuading, of leading and directing other people, seems to be one of the strongest of all our natural desires. - Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
A similar lesson from the ancients can be found in the etymological dictionary: sophist 1542, earlier sophister (c.1380), from L. sophista, sophistes, from Gk. sophistes, from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "wise, clever," of unknown origin. Gk. sophistes came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and, contrasted with "philosopher," it became a term of contempt. Ancient sophists were famous for their clever, specious arguments. philosopher O.E. philosophe, from L. philosophus, from Gk. philosophos "philosopher," lit. "lover of wisdom," from philos "loving" + sophos "wise, a sage." "Pythagoras was the first who called himself philosophos, instead of sophos, 'wise man,' since this latter term was suggestive of immodesty." [Klein] The “sophist” studies how to persuade at any cost; the philosopher studies what argumentation forms lead away from the truth and into emotional but specious results.
Journalists only tell the part of the story which most readily grips the attention of the public. And since the construction of a thousand houses may not grip the attention of the public as much as a fire burning down a single house, journalism is about bad news. The assumption that the supply must be dwindling because the only reports in the paper are of houses burning down and not of houses being built is the negative bias of journalism. Journalists are very aware of this bias, and yet journalists claim that journalism is objective. But the assumption that "negativity is objectivity” is cynicism.
Cynicism has religious and political implications. First and most obviously, “cynicism" is an antonym for “faith.” And
"Without faith it is impossible to please God.” — Hebrews 11:6
Journalists who assume that they themselves are objective cannot be assumed to have faith in God.
Secondly, the seminal writing which explained the American revolution starts out,
SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.
Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one: for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries BY A GOVERNMENT, which we might expect in a country WITHOUT GOVERNMENT, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer. Government, like dress, is the badge of lost innocence; the palaces of kings are built upon the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would need no other lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest; and this he is induced to do by the same prudence which in every other case advises him, out of two evils to choose the least. Wherefore, security being the true design and end of government, it unanswerably follows that whatever form thereof appears most likely to ensure it to us, with the least expense and greatest benefit, is preferable to all others. - Thomas Paine, Common Sense (1776)
If "SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them,” and if "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one,” then
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! —Isaiah 5:20 King James Version (KJV)
seems clearly applicable.
Skepticism towards society implies acceptance of the necessity for government to "promote our happiness . . . NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices.” But cynicism - the extreme case of skepticism - towards society leads to (or follows from) naiveté towards the possibility of “intolerable . . . evil" in government.
Cynicism towards society motivates “some writers” to advocate for government to absorb the positive roles of society. “Conservative” skepticism towards government argues that the positive roles of society are too subtle for “a punisher” to accomplish. And that in attempting the role of “patron” government all too readily becomes the problem rather than the solution.