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The Media's Massive Credibility Problem
Townhall.com ^ | August 21, 2019 | Brent Bozell and Tim Graham

Posted on 08/21/2019 4:09:25 AM PDT by Kaslin

On her weekly Sinclair TV show, "Full Measure," on Aug. 18, former CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson interviewed pollster Scott Rasmussen about journalists' standing in the public square. They're about as trusted as Wikipedia, the website considered so unreliable that school teachers often tell students they can't cite it as a source for their research papers.

Only 38 percent said national political coverage is accurate and reliable, while 42 percent said it is not. "We asked about national political reporters. Are they credible? Are they reliable?" said Rasmussen. "And you know, a little more than 1 out of 3 people say yes. When we ask about Wikipedia, we get the exact same answer. So what's -- what's happening is we have a world where people look at journalists like they look at Wikipedia."

You hear the media elites often break out the nostalgia for an era when the American people had "shared facts." Translation: a time when all Americans had the "mainstream" media to tell them what the "facts" were, and when those in that "mainstream" enjoyed a monopoly in their industry. Facts always seemed carefully arranged for political impact. For example, the TV anchors told us the Vietnam War was an unwinnable quagmire. Watergate was the worst scandal in American history. The Soviet Union only wanted peace. The wealthy were greedy. Planet Earth would succumb to global warming. And Planned Parenthood cares about children.

All this created a national hunger for alternative sources of information. The addition of Fox News, conservative talk radio, and conservative news websites and blogs in the '90s is decried as the dawn of a new era of "misinformation."

The media's dramatic tilt has clearly taken a toll on their image. Rasmussen told Attkisson that 78 percent of voters say reporters don't report news so much as they promote their agenda: "They think they use incidents as props for their agenda rather than seeking accurate record of what happened. ... Only 14 percent think that a journalist is actually reporting what happened."

That result is just devastating. The "news" media no longer exist.

Then Rasmussen added a layer of public cynicism: "If a reporter found out something that would hurt their favorite candidate, only 36 percent of voters think that they would report that." The public sees the media for what they are: flagrant activists manipulating the democratic process.

Attkisson also interviewed former CNN anchor Frank Sesno to react to this massive credibility problem. Sesno toed the company line and, in so doing, tripped over his own tongue. "The public understands fundamentally what journalism should be," he said. "They don't understand how it's actually practiced." What does that mean? The public isn't well-informed enough to know how well-informed it would be if it were to trust the press?

If media organizations really wanted to improve their image, they would address public skepticism seriously, taking some very simple steps. Stop trying to bury every bit of good news for President Trump and every bit of bad news for Bernie, Biden & Co. Try to acknowledge that policy debates have two sides. It is fair to question climate change, support our national identity and oppose the abortion industry trafficking human carnage.

Is it too late? Conservatives have walked away from these networks and newspapers, which means that their audiences are now mostly liberals who reject everything conservatives champion. Obviously, from all we've witnessed, liberal journalists are much more sensitive to criticism from fellow liberals than they are to the American public. That's unlikely to change, so the credibility crisis will only deepen.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: media; msm; newspapers
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1 posted on 08/21/2019 4:09:25 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

I cannot use the W/Post or NYT as cat pan liners. Cat refuses to go there.


2 posted on 08/21/2019 4:13:20 AM PDT by duckman ( Not tired of winning!)
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To: Kaslin

Anyone read the article last week in the Washington post where this slimebag - Luke O’Neil - claimed Trump blamed the El Paso victims for their own deaths? I couldn’t believe it, just a flat out outrageous lie and I actually found this absolute d-bag O’Neil on Twitter and wrote to him, asking him where the hell he gets off writing such BS, that he’s a prime example of everything wrong with the media today and Twitter BANNED ME!!


3 posted on 08/21/2019 4:16:39 AM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (As long as Hillary walks free, equal justice under the law will never exist in the USA)
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To: duckman

I don’t know in what order to put politicians, used car salesmen and msm anymore in terms of trust.


4 posted on 08/21/2019 4:21:34 AM PDT by dp0622 (Bad, bad company Till the day I die.)
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To: Kaslin

Credibility problem? First they would have to have any for it to be a problem. The MSM has shown itself to be so agenda driven, so blinded by politics that they now have zero credibility, zero integrity. If they said the sky was blue I’d still go check for myself. MSM “journalist” ... snort ... they should consider moving up in the world, maybe to pimp or something...


5 posted on 08/21/2019 4:23:06 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps ( Be ready!)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Facebook and Twitter, I’m told, are a huge part of the misinformation problem. I can’t speak firsthand because I don’t follow either.


6 posted on 08/21/2019 4:24:47 AM PDT by Spok
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To: Kaslin

The only consequences for not reporting the truth is low ratings. Cable subscribers still pick up the tab for CNN and MSNBC, regardless of how many people actually watch. Reporters reporting their own Trump hatred is not the news.


7 posted on 08/21/2019 4:26:07 AM PDT by FreedBird
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To: dp0622

Answer:
Used car salesman. Having once been one, I can tell you, all the used car salesman wants to do is sell you a car/make money. He has no hidden agendas.


8 posted on 08/21/2019 4:28:19 AM PDT by faucetman (Just the facts, ma'am, Just the facts)
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To: Kaslin

Quickly the nation is returning to thirds


9 posted on 08/21/2019 4:29:05 AM PDT by no-to-illegals ( Liberals, leftists, Rinos, moslems, illegals, lamestream media. All want America to fail and die)
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To: duckman

The leftist newspapers are polluting the planet.

They need to stop it now!


10 posted on 08/21/2019 4:30:47 AM PDT by cgbg (Democracy dies in darkness when Bezos bans books.)
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To: faucetman

It’s AMAZING how much profit is built into the price.

I threw out a Ridiculous price on a used camaro once and then just started to go so the guy said ok.

It was advertised for like 17k, i offered 13k and he said yes.

And he STILL made a profit, didn’t he?


11 posted on 08/21/2019 4:42:53 AM PDT by dp0622 (Bad, bad company Till the day I die.)
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To: dp0622

Always lowball on used cars.


12 posted on 08/21/2019 5:02:14 AM PDT by marktwain (President Trump and his supporters are the Resistance. His opponents are the Reactionaries.)
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To: dp0622
Let me help you, FRiend...

  1. Used Car Salesmen (Most trustworthy)

  2. Politicians (A few. Just a few.)

  3. MSM (Least trustworthy. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy)


13 posted on 08/21/2019 5:04:54 AM PDT by rlmorel (Trump to China: This Capitalist Will Not Sell You the Rope with Which You Will Hang Us.)
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To: rlmorel

That could describe any fundraiser thrown by bill and Hillary.


14 posted on 08/21/2019 5:07:37 AM PDT by dp0622 (Bad, bad company Till the day I die.)
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To: Kaslin

Back in the 90s, I subscribed to Time magazine. I cancelled this subscription when the lead editorial announced with great fanfare their change in policy. Time would continue to report the news but they would also begin to tell me what I should think about the reported news. I had no need to be told ‘what to think’.


15 posted on 08/21/2019 5:07:45 AM PDT by DugwayDuke ("A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest")
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To: Kaslin

It is not that the news media is biased, it has always been biased. It is that there is so little counter balance to their point of view.

The media is used to shut down any opposition by use of intimidation, harassment and name calling.

So Rush Limbaugh is not to be trusted but Walter Cronkite was a saint. Phooey, they both have agendas, but at least Rush is open about his views while Uncle Walter pretended to be fair as he lied either directly or by omission to the American people.


16 posted on 08/21/2019 5:11:15 AM PDT by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: dp0622

“trust” at this point, applies less and less, everywhere.


17 posted on 08/21/2019 5:16:47 AM PDT by SMARTY ("Nobility is defined by the demands it makes on us - by obligations, not by rights".)
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To: Kaslin

Read about how Walter Cronkite was a raging liberal in private and it’s easy to understand that the news has ALWAYS been cooked. Thank God for the Internet to get around the filters.


18 posted on 08/21/2019 5:17:08 AM PDT by Thebaddog (The hippies are running things)
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To: Kaslin

Example of fake news.
Sinclairs soldiers, I believe 44 news stations, all saying the same thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fHfgU8oMSo


19 posted on 08/21/2019 5:24:40 AM PDT by sunny48
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To: FreedBird
"Cable subscribers still pick up the tab for CNN and MSNBC, regardless of how many people actually watch.

I dropped the content portion of my cable subscription a couple years ago and now use it only for internet access. I know it still goes into the same pot but now there is less of it to feed the presstitutes and bilge merchants.

20 posted on 08/21/2019 5:24:46 AM PDT by Desron13 (You may choose to ignore reality but you can't force reality to ignore you.)
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