According to a new survey conducted by Gallup — are you sitting down? — Americans across the political spectrum have moved beyond disillusionment into full-blown distrust of the mass media.
The 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media ‘”a great deal” or “a fair amount'” to report the news in a full, fair, and accurate way ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016.
Is this a surprise?
The 32% of Americans who say they trust the mass media “a great deal” or “a fair amount” to report the news in a full, fair and accurate way ties Gallup’s lowest historical reading, previously recorded in 2016. https://t.co/2QYhLCqFJN
— GallupNews (@GallupNews) October 19, 2023
The survey also found that nearly four in 10 Americans — 39 percent — had “no trust at all” in the media.
Anyone surprised by Gallup’s findings must have been living in a cavern or avoided all contact with humanity and the happenings of this turbulent time.
What About Those Who DO Trust The Media?
I am convinced that most people who watch or read news outlets or political sites — whether they are conservative or liberal — regularly do so because of two main reasons.
They want to know what they already think, and they also believe that their opinions will be validated if they read or hear their favorite media personalities say the same thing.
Blurring Facts, Opinions, and Conspiracy Theories
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the late Democrat Senator and statesman, famously said:
Your opinion is yours. You are entitled to your opinion, but not to the facts.
Big problem. The left faces a huge problem in today’s political climate. Take, for instance, “science” and how Democrats continue to bastardize it as COVID-19 facts no longer support their histrionic story.
The Democrat Party of Moynihan bears no resemblance to the socialism or wokeism of the current far-left Democrat Party. Moynihan’s statement remains true.
Here’s the deal.
The media continues to be a source of distrust for a variety of reasons. One is: Who fact-checks fact-checkers.
Credibility is also affected when millions of Americans are relying on social media to get their “news”, “facts”, or other information, without taking the time to do their own research, or even to find reputable sources, before blabbing or pounding the keyboard. This list is endless.
It is also not surprising that Democrats tend to trust mass media more than Republicans.
Given the combined viewership of CBSNBCABCMSNBC, and even CNN, the proof is in the biased pudding, which is precisely why the “mainstream” media have attempted to portray Fox News as practically Satan’s own media outlet.
Despite the above, even Democrat’s trust in media is now at its lowest level since 2016. Why?
I can only guess that the existence of Fox News and the continued growth of conservative “citizen journalists” is the cause.
The band continues to play, and the divisions in our country continue to grow.
