What’s wrong with the news media?


Trust in the mass media is at an all-time low. Two-thirds of Americans believe the mainstream press publishes fake news.

Yes, there’s still much good journalism to be found, if you know where to look. Yet, ask reporters who’ve been around a while, and many will tell you that a lot of good journalism is being left unpublished. Good journalists hate what’s happening to the news.

We have only ourselves to blame.

Firewalls that once strictly separated news from opinion have been replaced by hopelessly blurred lines. Once-forbidden practices such as editorializing within straight news reports, and the inclusion of opinions as if fact, are not only tolerated; they’re encouraged.

We’ve exempted ourselves from the normal rules that used to govern us, and so the most egregious kinds of reporting errors are becoming more common. Formerly well-respected news organizations and experienced national journalists are making the sorts of mistakes that aren’t tolerated in journalism schools. When their mistakes are corrected at all, it’s with little seeming regret. And the corrections never garner a circulation as wide as the original salacious narrative… (CONTINUED)

Read the rest of my article here on “The Hill.”

 

[hr] Sharyl Attkisson is author of the New York Times bestseller “The Smear.”


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5 thoughts on “What’s wrong with the news media?”

  1. Congratulations on getting picked up as a commentator on The Hill. Their credibility is improved considerably in my book. Now if only they’ll jump on board with your impactful hard news investigative journalism they’d really be on to something big in the credibility department.

  2. The eclipse, which begins in about 45 minutes, has provided some remarkable examples of fake news. On August 1 the Boston Globe reported that the eclipse would be passing over “Trump Country.” This week the Atlantic Magazine has an article referring to it as a “racist” eclipse as it will pass mostly over areas with few black people.

  3. The reason is that all media have been bought out by the corporations some time ago. Now they are in league with the bought-out polititions. And I guarantee that “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet” We are all screwed now. Babylon will be brought to Destruction in 1 hour!

  4. Great piece. The media has NO credibility, period. The outcome of November 8, 2016 was a day that the corrupt media, government and business leaders thought would never come. Unfortunately, they still don’t understand what’s going on in our country. They had gotten so big headed and full of themselves that they are still blinded by their own ambitious greed and Liberal Ideology. The internet has proven to be the media’s enemy, and that’s a very good thing for all of us. No longer can TV, newspapers and the radio spew their unchecked propaganda. The election of Donald Trump blew apart all the control that they all THOUGHT they had over us. You know as well as I do. 30 years ago you would not have a job in the media, BUT thankfully you do and I support you 100% in your fight against the corruption that you have had to endure. Thanks for staying with it!

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