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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- 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.”
Trump admin asks Spanberger, Virginia officials not release illegal charged with groping high school girls
Trump voter ID push faces Senate test as GOP rebels threaten to sink bill
Viktor Orban faces uphill battle to hold leadership as opposition hits him on Russia ties and accusations of corruption
Where things stand with Iran war in its third week
Minnesota bill would ban warrants allowing police to collect data from devices near a crime scene
Jasmine Crockett defends her security guard who was killed in police standoff, wanted for impersonating cop
ABC News Left Out Crucial Context In Story About Iran Drone Threat To California
Anti-ICE agitators blow cover in Boston, allowing child rape suspect to evade arrest for weeks
Utah children’s book author Kouri Richins convicted in husband’s murder
Search for missing retired Air Force general enters third week as investigators probe new clues
Trump questions Newsom’s fitness for White House, citing his dyslexia
Court allows DOJ to proceed with appeal over law firm executive orders
Trump lawyer in Jack Smith case draws conservative backing after DOJ praise rattles ‘elite’ legal conference
Illegal immigrant held on ICE detainer in Charlotte murder as disturbing details surface
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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.
