An Ethics in Media study reveals that a whopping 95 percent of Americans are ” troubled by the current state of media.”
You couldn’t get 95 percent of the American people to agree that ice cream and sex are awesome, but 95 percent can come together to recognize just how horrible the media are.
But part of me is still wondering what’s wrong with the other five percent.
The study was conducted by the public relations firm Bospar and surveyed 1,010 American adults.
Specific reasons for why Americans are concerned do vary. But to no one’s surprise, after more than five years of this…
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…“fake news” tops this list of concerns with a 53 percent majority.
Also hitting a near-majority are “reporting gossip” (49 percent) and “lying spokespeople” (48 percent).
Here are the runners-up:
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Dem rep identifies himself as one of this year’s State of the Union designated survivors
Evil: Newsom’s Team Decides to Free Child Molester Whose Crimes We Can’t Fully Describe Here (and You Wouldn’t Want Us To)
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Growing number of Democrats skipping Trump’s 2026 State of the Union
Savannah Guthrie offers $1 million family reward for recovery of Nancy Guthrie
France restricts Trump ambassador’s access to officials after missed summons
Idaho woman accused of attempting to set fire to DHS building with stolen ambulance
Alert: Massive Development Reported in DOJ’s Sedition Case Against Mark Kelly, Others – Bad News for Trump Admin
Speechwriters from Reagan to Biden agree: Trump’s SOTU is a critical test for his second term
California GOP infighting could destroy any chance at governorship
Trump to come face-to-face with Supreme Court justices who rejected tariffs at State of the Union
Prosecutors: Utah Mom Who Wrote Children’s Book About Grief After Husband Died Actually Killed Him
FBI records contradict claims Biden was ‘not aware’ of Mar-a-Lago raid
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- Celebrity opinions – 36%
- Left-wing agendas – 34%
- Gotcha journalism – 33%
- Right-wing agendas – 32%
- Puff pieces in exchange for access to other important interviews – 31%
- Blind items being reported in the news – 30%
- Hit pieces – 21%
- Rise of independent contributors versus on-staff media – 14%
More than two-thirds of respondents see no hope for the media, at least in the immediate future. A whopping 67 percent “believe ethics in journalism will be worse during the 2020 presidential campaign.”
Iowa congressman took cash from Chinese companies buying American farmland
Dem rep identifies himself as one of this year’s State of the Union designated survivors
Evil: Newsom’s Team Decides to Free Child Molester Whose Crimes We Can’t Fully Describe Here (and You Wouldn’t Want Us To)
Pure Gold: GOP Gov. of Mississippi Offers to Send Reading Teachers to Coach Gavin Newsom Since Black Students in MS Are 2.5x Better Readers Than in CA
Growing number of Democrats skipping Trump’s 2026 State of the Union
Savannah Guthrie offers $1 million family reward for recovery of Nancy Guthrie
France restricts Trump ambassador’s access to officials after missed summons
Idaho woman accused of attempting to set fire to DHS building with stolen ambulance
Alert: Massive Development Reported in DOJ’s Sedition Case Against Mark Kelly, Others – Bad News for Trump Admin
Speechwriters from Reagan to Biden agree: Trump’s SOTU is a critical test for his second term
California GOP infighting could destroy any chance at governorship
Trump to come face-to-face with Supreme Court justices who rejected tariffs at State of the Union
Prosecutors: Utah Mom Who Wrote Children’s Book About Grief After Husband Died Actually Killed Him
FBI records contradict claims Biden was ‘not aware’ of Mar-a-Lago raid
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People also understand exactly how all this bad journalism damages the country. Almost two-thirds, 64 percent, say it exacerbates division and partisanship; 63 percent said it “fuels inaccuracies”; 60 percent said it incites hate; 57 percent said it incites fear.
Yes, our media are awful and the public know it. Get this… The group with the highest ethical rating, local print and online journalists, are considered ethical by only 40 percent.
Meanwhile, only 23 percent consider local TV reporters and anchors ethical, followed by 22 percent for national print and online journalists, and a deadly 15 percent for national TV anchors and reporters — 15 percent!!!
A plurality of 46 percent see journalism as less ethical now than it was in the past, while only 20 percent said the media are more ethical.
These are catastrophic numbers for any institution, much less one like the media that lives or dies based on integrity, goodwill, and moral authority.
But the media have worked overtime to lose the public trust, and losing that trust is the only real accomplishment they can point to over the last six years.
Story cited here.
