The Mainstream Media is no longer trusted

[barondave]

A conversation between minnehaha B and me in his LJ came to this comment, quoting me:

"Basically, no one trusts the mainstream media to be even remotely
unbiased."

I have not seen any data to support this assertion. Of course you and I
and everyone we know doesn't trust the mainstream media -- but we're not
the mainstream electorate. I would love to see a real analysis that
supports your conclusion, though.

I realize B is asking about perception, not the reality of a right-wing dominated news media. Here are a few quick links:

Report: trust in journalism has hit all-time low 3/17/05, article on report from Project in Excellence In Journalism.

Who Hates the Press? From Watergate to the present, confidence in the media has been spiraling down. Columbia Journalism Review Nov/Dec 2007.

Believe It: The Media's Credibility Headache Gets Worse NYTimes 5/22/05. "Another poll, in 2003 by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that 66 percent of Americans see news reports as slanted, compared with 53 percent in 1985. Even more stunning to some analysts, 32 percent judged news organizations to be immoral, up from 13 percent in 1985."

Don't Trust the Media 4/12/08. 'The message from Jeff Cohen's lecture Tuesday at North Central Michigan College was clear — "You can't trust the big corporate media."' Cohen founded FAIR in 1986.

I couldn't immediately find a link to the recent study that showed that confidence in the media was the lowest of any institution asked about, including lawyers.

This is a concern of mine, and the lack of real journalism in the mainstream media is a major problem in this country. I'll probably make this a more formal essay at some time. Read a lot of Glenn Greenwald.

Comments

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Well I don't think of our media as "right wing" but I sure as heck don't trust it. But then again I've never thought of it as a profession either. As far as I can tell it's always been about sales of something, either the physical (newspaper, magazine etc) or as a means of advertising. Ed Murrow was just a fleeting blip, too bad IMO.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

I try to read Glenn Greenwald, but everything he writes about is so infuriating, it's bad for the blood pressure.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Indeed. He writes about things you should get mad about. He writes about things that competent journalists should get mad about...

Media

[7ivy7.livejournal.com]

It's not the media that's immoral, it's capitalism. We were once a capitalistic democracy. Ever since (Saint) Ronald Regan we have become a "democratic" capitalisim. Capitalism is not kind to critics. Not kind to new ideas. It preserves the status quo, because it feeds on the fear of change.