For the 1st time ever, less than half of us trust the mainstream media.
Edelman researchers found that in their annual trust barometer of business, government, non-profits and media.
Trust in …
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For the 1st time ever, less than half of us trust the mainstream media.
Edelman researchers found that in their annual trust barometer of business, government, non-profits and media.
Trust in social media – Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. – is even worse. Edelman found it hit an all-time low of 27%.
Government leaders aren’t trusted either. 28% of Trump voters say they trust government. Only 21% trust media.
56% of those polled agree that some journalists “purposely try to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”
58% think media “are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than informing the public.”
When Edelman polled Americans after the election, that trust had fallen even further. 57% of Democrats trust the media. Only 18% of Republicans do.
Censorship of news such as the Hunter Biden foreign bribes and media emphasis on President Trump as unfit to hold office were reasons for low Republican trust.
Faith in society’s central institutions – especially in government and the media – is the glue that holds society together, says financial analyst and author Felix Salmon.
That glue was dissolving 10 years ago and has now, for millions of us, disappeared entirely.
This may surprise many progressives but Salmon says this is not a result Donald Trump’s war on “fake news” but on public suspicion of how media manipulates facts in the news.
Salmon says that media mistrust is now central to many Americans’ personal beliefs.
It is an article of faith that they weren’t argued into and can’t be argued out of.
We are sorry to see this but realize that many people in the mainstream media brought this mistrust on themselves.
We welcome your thoughts on the media and how the Chronicle can be a more trustworthy source. Please email JerryBellune at yahoo.com
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