Mainstream Media Are in Big Trouble, and They Know It

Fewer than half of all Americans trust the news they’re supposed to trust. But the media has a plan to fix that.

Photo by Rafel Rosselló

According to the newly released Edelman Trust Barometer, the U.S. is currently in the grips of an epic “trust”crisis.

The sobering report suggests that while Americans crave facts now more than ever, they simply don’t know what to believe anymore. As a result, they have a deep and accelerating distrust of almost everything, including leaders across every area of their lives. But nowhere is this absence of trust more apparent than in traditional media:

• 56% agree with the statement that “Journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”
• 58% think that “most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public.

Ouch.

These numbers are alarming industry leaders, but they come as no surprise to anyone who’s stopped playing along with the charade of a “free and independent media.” Because if we’re completely honest with ourselves, we know what mainstream news outlets really are these days: shrill and…