Wednesday, September 09, 2020

The Atlantic story is not helping the media’s reputation


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A year ago, Gallup reported that trust in the media is down. 
This is the report:    
Americans remain largely mistrustful of the mass media as 41% currently have “a great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in newspapers, television and radio to report the news “fully, accurately and fairly.” This latest reading represents a four-percentage-point dip since last year and marks the end of improvements in back-to-back years after hitting an all-time low. 
Yes, it was a year ago but I doubt that much has changed.  In fact, it may have gone down further. 
Why is the media dropping in the minds of many Americans?   Take a look at this story in The Atlantic. 
According to Deroy Murdock, Jeffrey Goldberg, the author of the story, has four anonymous sources behind the story.
On the other hand, President Trump has 21 named ones who’ve denied the story. Furthermore, Americans have a sense of fairness.  They don’t think that a person should be accused of something like this without a source willing to go public.  In other words, every American knows that something like this could happen to them or an anonymous source who tries to destroy a reputation. 
In the end, The Atlantic won’t change a single vote.  It will give the Trump haters more material to post on Facebook.  On the other hand, it will go in one ear and out the other for most voters who see it for what it is. 
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