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Only 14% of republicans trust the media. How do you fix that? (1 Viewer)

Riversco

Riversco

Footballguy
Here is a chart that tells us everything we need to know about the state of politics in the US today.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/195542/americans-trust-mass-media-sinks-new-low.aspx

In the Bill Clinton era, about half of republicans trusted the media.  You can see a HUGE dip when the media turned against the Iraq war last decade.  Around 2003, republican trust in the media fell to around 30% where it restabilized.  But in the past couple of years, republican trust in the media has effectively fallen off a cliff with only 14% trusting the media now.  A lot of that could probably be blamed on coverage of racial tensions, BLM, and criticism of cops in the media.  

Trust in the media has collapsed to the point where a republican openly attacking the press is a WINNING issue.  We've never been here before but we're here now.  It probably doesn't matter who leads the republican party, going forward they will show zero respect for the press lest their constituents vote them out.  Its likely the candidate who gives the press the least respect will always win the GOP primaries.  

How can this be fixed?  Or can it be fixed?

If nothing is done, the future of American press will be FOX news and Breitbart.  People won't care that the news is less accurate.  They would rather have less accurate news than news from a press that, in their opinion, is actively working against them.

 
Nowadays you have to skip past the likes of CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and go right to AP, PBS, Reuters and foreign media to get anywhere near the truth.

And that's not just a Republican thing.

 
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For those so skeptical of the "mass media", what criteria are you using to decide whether what you are told is the truth or not?

 
I'm a bleeding heart liberal and even I can admit that there's "liberal bias" in the media. 

The only right wing news is Fox, the rest are pretty liberal. 

 
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matuski said:
What.
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Sorry, I must have insulted your "team", whether left or right I'm not sure.

The old saying "If it Bleeds it Leads" has been replaced by "Anything for Clicks". And it's ####### rampant across almost all of the major news outlets.

 
Jobber said:
Sorry, I must have insulted your "team", whether left or right I'm not sure.

The old saying "If it Bleeds it Leads" has been replaced by "Anything for Clicks". And it's ####### rampant across almost all of the major news outlets.
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See my next post.

You use branding to determine what information is truth or not?

Your defensiveness is odd by the way.  We are just posting on a message board.

 
matuski said:
See my next post.

You use branding to determine what information is truth or not?

Your defensiveness is odd by the way.  We are just posting on a message board.
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Branding meaning assumed poliitical affiliation? My point is, you cannot trust any of the major networks for much of anything now. I get most of my news feom BBC, The Hindu and FBGs. :D

 
BowieMercs said:
By "fix that" do you mean make it 0% or 100%?
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Well, if Trump winds up getting removed from office, I can guarantee that will go to as close to 0% as possible, and all future GOP nominees will be so far to the right of Trump that Trump will look like a moderate by comparison.  I'm pretty sure removing Trump means rank and file republicans officially give up on the system.  It worries me that an attempt to remove him isn't totally implausible.

 
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Its very likely that we are already at the point where either trump is a successful president, or republican trust in the media collapses to 0% and we get a revolt.  I think trump represents the last shot at civility before the real breakdown.  If he fails, the republican voters will blame the press.

 
The media's obsession with "relevance" (i.e. eyeballs) has lead to a degradation in quality.  Foreign news sources like BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and others even foreign gonv't sponsored ones have higher journalistic ethics, have better reporting, and hit closer to the pin on "truthiness".

 
The Z Machine said:
The media's obsession with "relevance" (i.e. eyeballs) has lead to a degradation in quality.  Foreign news sources like BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and others even foreign gonv't sponsored ones have higher journalistic ethics, have better reporting, and hit closer to the pin on "truthiness".
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Thank you, this is very well said and perfectly accurate. 

 
Riversco said:
Its very likely that we are already at the point where either trump is a successful president, or republican trust in the media collapses to 0% and we get a revolt.  I think trump represents the last shot at civility before the real breakdown.  If he fails, the republican voters will blame the press.
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No. If he falls republican voters will see what severe skepticism and paranoia leads to (i.e. Trump) and actually start moving more centrist. 

Trumps base isn't synonymous with 'Republicans.'

 
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I would ask them what don't they trust, like some specifics.  are they lying or reporting things you don't like?

also, no revolt....no way 58million factory workers or so can get off on the same day, thanks to Obama.

 
I seem to recall a time when news programs had no commercials during the broadcast. Simpler times had simpler problems.

 
Riversco said:
Well, if Trump winds up getting removed from office, I can guarantee that will go to as close to 0% as possible, and all future GOP nominees will be so far to the right of Trump that Trump will look like a moderate by comparison.  I'm pretty sure removing Trump means rank and file republicans officially give up on the system.  It worries me that an attempt to remove him isn't totally implausible.
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Nah, I'm looking forward to his removal.  I'm also generally a Republican voter, however I did vote for Obama once and Hilary back in November. The Hilary vote was more about showing disapproval for Trump than anything else. 

Anyway, I don't see how anyone could fully trust the media. In an attempt to fill the screen 24/7, editorials now pass for news. In an effort to be first, twitter posts now pass for breaking stories. It's a bad state. 

 
Is biased news inherently untrustworthy?  I suspect the 14% figure is due to bias more than other reasons.  Personally I feel I can trust biased news.  It's not that hard to separate opinion from fact.  And I think the news organizations try to be factually correct even if they fail at times.   I also think that presenting completely unbiased news is an impossible task.  

 
The Z Machine said:
The media's obsession with "relevance" (i.e. eyeballs) has lead to a degradation in quality.  Foreign news sources like BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, and others even foreign gonv't sponsored ones have higher journalistic ethics, have better reporting, and hit closer to the pin on "truthiness".
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Sadly, I have to mostly agree with you.  Maybe this is unfair, but when people reference "mass media" or "mainstream media," I immediately think of CNN.  If CNN isn't mainstream, then nothing is.  And CNN is hot garbage.  Their website is literally just clickbait.  It's disgraceful.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
Sadly, I have to mostly agree with you.  Maybe this is unfair, but when people reference "mass media" or "mainstream media," I immediately think of CNN.  If CNN isn't mainstream, then nothing is.  And CNN is hot garbage.  Their website is literally just clickbait.  It's disgraceful.
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Yep. And it's been that way for awhile.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
Sadly, I have to mostly agree with you.  Maybe this is unfair, but when people reference "mass media" or "mainstream media," I immediately think of CNN.  If CNN isn't mainstream, then nothing is.  And CNN is hot garbage.  Their website is literally just clickbait.  It's disgraceful.
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I couldn't agree more. News was always slanted to a degree, that's fine it just is. But 10 years ago even, I'd say even if I could see the slant, I'd be confident that a reported story was fully fact checked and objectively based on those facts. I can't say that at all any more, and that's the problem. To "be old school" and report vetted, confirmed news takes time. Twitter and other social media aren't held to this standard, and pushes the CNN and Fox News (ignore the slant for examples sake) to the back burner of relevance and the way of the newspaper. Unless of course these outlets also roll in the dirt and run with news that might not have time to be fully vetted. Might not be the direct example, but the Boston Marathon manhunt was when I think the tide officially changed and pushed Twitter and random Internet sources to the forefront with breaking news first,  was really glaring IMO. Basically added NOS to the engine for traditional news outlets to keep up. Now that they are running sometimes non-confirmed info out there with their brand, their brand reputations are all going straight to the gutter.

It's really a shame all around.

 
To the original question...

1- Public execution of Brian Williams- you know, the anchor that made up his news.  And any other reporter/anchor caught doing so.
2- Complete ban on 24/7 coverage of major news events like Sandy Hook and the like.  30 minute, facts only coverage- tops.
3- Complete ban on adjectives and adverbs to "add" to the news.
4- Eliminate "sound-bite" news.
5- Eliminate advertising during the news/on "news" websites.
6- Immediate firing of any anchor or reporter that gives an opinion about the story they are covering.
7- Complete ban of mentioning or showing any Hollywood actor/actress and their opinions.

This would go a ways toward getting me to trust the news again.

 
Jedi Knight said:
To the original question...

1- Public execution of Brian Williams- you know, the anchor that made up his news.  And any other reporter/anchor caught doing so.
2- Complete ban on 24/7 coverage of major news events like Sandy Hook and the like.  30 minute, facts only coverage- tops.
3- Complete ban on adjectives and adverbs to "add" to the news.
4- Eliminate "sound-bite" news.
5- Eliminate advertising during the news/on "news" websites.
6- Immediate firing of any anchor or reporter that gives an opinion about the story they are covering.
7- Complete ban of mentioning or showing any Hollywood actor/actress and their opinions.

This would go a ways toward getting me to trust the news again.
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Welcome to China!

 
Jedi Knight said:
6- Immediate firing of any anchor or reporter that gives an opinion about the story they are covering.
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Even if anchors/reporters don't give opinions, there is inherent bias in deciding which news stories to cover and how much time to spend on them.  Complete fairness is an impossible standard.

 
I've noticed a change or evolution on this topic. 

When conservatives used to complain about the media, they complained about the bias- they didn't like the way stories were being reported, the slant that was given, etc. Now, in "the age of Trump" many seem to believe that the media is outright lying to them. That's much worse IMO. 

 
I have no real political affiliation and I don't trust the media or social media. I read and watch stuff and take everything with a grain of salt. Every outlet has an agenda.

 
Jedi Knight said:
To the original question...

1- Public execution of Brian Williams- you know, the anchor that made up his news.  And any other reporter/anchor caught doing so.
2- Complete ban on 24/7 coverage of major news events like Sandy Hook and the like.  30 minute, facts only coverage- tops.
3- Complete ban on adjectives and adverbs to "add" to the news.
4- Eliminate "sound-bite" news.
5- Eliminate advertising during the news/on "news" websites.
6- Immediate firing of any anchor or reporter that gives an opinion about the story they are covering.
7- Complete ban of mentioning or showing any Hollywood actor/actress and their opinions.

This would go a ways toward getting me to trust the news again.
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Where you do get your news?

 
It's more than just a media thing.  It's an entitlement thing--and this is a modern era thing (it's not a republican/democrat thing).  People have such a sense of entitlement that they basically want to believe what they think is true.  If something contradicts that belief--they are resistant to "trusting" it.     It's not about just fixing the media--it's also about training people that not everything you believe is true--and not everything that doesn't go your way is some sort of conspiracy.  

 
For someone who is not a liberal Democrat, I imagine it is a lot like a non-Christian watching a Christian news program, where every other story, the anchor tells them why they won't go to heaven.

 
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Just to be clear, what are the factually incorrect stories that were reported by the big mainstream media giants?  I know there were some.  Just looking for a list.

 
FreeBaGeL said:
Just to be clear, what are the factually incorrect stories that were reported by the big mainstream media giants?  I know there were some.  Just looking for a list.
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it's a good point, but it's the narrative and the story line that conservatives don't trust. In other words, what stories receive emphasis, what omissions are made, etc., lead Republicans to think there is an unfair narrative in the media writ large. 

They're not reporting false facts, but their emphasis and narrative behind those facts is selective.  

 
As far as things in the control of media outlets I'd say cut back on "Opinion and Analysis" programming by about 50-75%. Straight news is still not that bad when you an find it on the cable networks, even Fox. That obviously mainly applies to TV news and in all honest if you want good reporting you should probably be reading a newspaper. If you didn't do anything but the New York Times or Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal you'd get a really good mix of solid reporting and balanced opinions.

The profession will likely always lean more liberal, just as things like law enforcement and finance tend to lean conservative. Unfortunately what's probably happening in response is more people going to self-selected and admittedly/open biased sources for news, applies to both sides but more pronounced for conservatives. 

 
Is it a coincidence that people stopped trusting the news at the same time we had a presidential candidate come to rise, a man with a long history of feuding with the press?  A man who made his feud central to his campaign?

I feel like those that don't trust the press are falling under the influence of our orange demagogue.  It's either that or Trump has really tapped into the zeitgeist with his damning of the press.

 
This is the death throes of the media. They aren't relevant since Matt Drudge scooped Newsweek in 1998 on the Monica Lewinsky story. 

 
The republicans I know are not being swayed at all by any of the protests.  They are just getting angrier.  This is bad.

 
Riversco said:
The republicans I know are not being swayed at all by any of the protests.  They are just getting angrier.  This is bad.
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Lol, angrier about what? The fact that the people of America are speaking up for the rights of others and the news is reporting on that? Or, are they upset because the news isn't telling the people that Obama is a terrible president... um, wait? The only terrorism I see in front of me is the attacks on our freedom. People need to think instead of being told what to think. 

 
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