Axios reported that Edelman’s annual trust barometer showed a major drop in Americans trusting traditional media and social media.
Fake news? No, it is not because people believed President Donald Trump’s description of the media.
The stats apply to American and foreign media:
The big picture: These numbers are echoed across the rest of the world: They’re mostly not a function of Donald Trump’s war on “fake news”.
- As vaccine rumor hunter Heidi Larson puts it, “we don’t have a misinformation problem, we have a trust problem.”
- News organizations have historically relied mainly on advertising income, and as those dollars flow increasingly to Google and Facebook, that has created institutional weakness that shows up in trust data.
A lot of people, especially the government, lash at social media over censorship and favoring one side of the news.
But is it worth the anger?
The trust barometer revealed that only 27% trusted social media.
From Axios:
By the numbers: For the first time ever, fewer than half of all Americans have trust in traditional media, according to data from Edelman’s annual trust barometer shared exclusively with Axios. Trust in social media has hit an all-time low of 27%.
56% of Americans 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.”
When Edelman re-polled Americans after the election, the figures had deteriorated even further, with 57% of Democrats trusting the media and only 18% of Republicans.
Maybe, just maybe, our betters need to realize that the majority of Americans are smart and alert. We also see through their charade and lies.
I don’t want to say people because I don’t know many who do this, but media personalities tend to think highly of themselves. This happens especially after they receive praise from those in their own bubble.
They attempt to pass off “stretching the truth” as facts, hoping we normies in Hicktown, USA, believe them because who wouldn’t? After all, their peers love them and they schmooze with Hollywood A-listers.
The mainstream media lost their way a long time ago. They completely gave up with President Barack Obama and went all deranged with President Donald Trump.
I’m not saying they made up everything during Trump’s administration. It’s just that their reporting on Trump differed from others that many people ignored any facts because they showcased their bias.
“Why didn’t they do this with Obama?” “They weren’t this harsh with Bush!”
It’s sad that some organizations have promised to report facts while journalists remind colleagues of their job descriptions:
How does the traditional media lure back Americans? CEOs:
How it works: Media outlets can continue to report reliable facts, but that won’t turn the trend around on its own. What’s needed is for trusted institutions to visibly embrace the news media.
- CEOs (a/k/a the fourth branch of government) are at or near the top of Edelman’s list of trusted institutions.
- By the numbers: 61% of Trump voters say that they trust their employer’s CEO. That compares to just 28% who trust government leaders, and a mere 21% who trust journalists.
The bottom line: CEOs have long put themselves forward as the people able to upgrade America’s physical infrastructure. Now it’s time for them to use the trust they’ve built up to help rebuild our civic infrastructure.
Just do your job. That’s it. Report the facts. Don’t use hyperbole. Don’t stretch the truth.
Believe it or not the majority of us normies and regular people do not like the drama and just want the facts. Embellishment and theatrics are tiresome and not worth our time.
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