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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- Trayvon Martin Murdered by Racist White Man
- Michael Brown Yelled “Hands up, Don’t Shoot!” Before Racist Cop Murdered Him
- Brett Kavanaugh: Serial Rapist
- Trump Ordered His Attorney to Lie
- The Racist White Boys from Covington High School
- Trump Can’t Defeat Hillary
- Trump Is a Russian Manchurian Candidate
…“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:
Toddler declared dead after near-drowning was found alive in hospital morgue hours later, police say
Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow drops out of Senate race weeks before primary
NYPD detective, children shot in separate Brooklyn shootings over holiday weekend
Iranians call for Trump’s death at funeral for assassinated ayatollah: ‘Seek revenge’
Trump shares news of ‘crystal clear’ Reflecting Pool, calls for vandalism suspect’s arrest
Watch: UK Police Do It Again, Attack White Kid for Crime of Being Slammed on Ground by Black Kid
Watch a Gun-Range Officer Halt Some Hollywood Antics on the Spot
Here Are The Voters Backing Democratic Socialists
California Man Pleads Guilty to Harassing Guthrie Family With Fake Ransom Notes
Newsom blames Trump for DOJ probe, but reports say investigation predates his administration
Samuel Alito Warns Mail-In-Ballot Ruling Leaves Giant Opening For Voter Fraud
‘He Came And Stab Me’: Food Truck Pirates Turn National Mall Into A Lawless Mess
Navy suspends search for sailor who went missing when helicopter went down in Arabian Sea
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PHOTOS: Record fireworks show lights up DC for America’s 250th birthday
- 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.”
Toddler declared dead after near-drowning was found alive in hospital morgue hours later, police say
Michigan Democrat Mallory McMorrow drops out of Senate race weeks before primary
NYPD detective, children shot in separate Brooklyn shootings over holiday weekend
Iranians call for Trump’s death at funeral for assassinated ayatollah: ‘Seek revenge’
Trump shares news of ‘crystal clear’ Reflecting Pool, calls for vandalism suspect’s arrest
Watch: UK Police Do It Again, Attack White Kid for Crime of Being Slammed on Ground by Black Kid
Watch a Gun-Range Officer Halt Some Hollywood Antics on the Spot
Here Are The Voters Backing Democratic Socialists
California Man Pleads Guilty to Harassing Guthrie Family With Fake Ransom Notes
Newsom blames Trump for DOJ probe, but reports say investigation predates his administration
Samuel Alito Warns Mail-In-Ballot Ruling Leaves Giant Opening For Voter Fraud
‘He Came And Stab Me’: Food Truck Pirates Turn National Mall Into A Lawless Mess
Navy suspends search for sailor who went missing when helicopter went down in Arabian Sea
Top highlights from Trump’s late night July 4 address: ‘No dream in history is bigger’
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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.
