7 ms·

yeah it's a questionable claim for sure. This was a widely cited poll that asserted for the first time ever, the majority of Americans mistrust the mainstream m

yeah it's a questionable claim for sure. This was a widely cited poll that asserted for the first time ever, the majority of Americans mistrust the mainstream media: https://www.axios.com/media-trust-crisis-2bf0ec1c-00c0-4901-9069-e26b21c283a9.html https://www.axios.com/media-trust-crisis-2bf0ec1c-00c0-4901-... You'll note that trust varies widely by political party, with 18% of Republicans trusting the media vs 57% of Democrats. So the post in the op seems to equate "educated" with "democrat" perhaps. Even if that's valid (don't really have the facts to dispute it personally) 57% is nothing to brag about. Another interesting poll on this subject here: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/01/americans-main-sources-for-political-news-vary-by-party-and-age/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/01/americans-m..., which asked people what their political affiliation was and what their main source of news was. Of those that said Fox, 93% leaned Republican...no surprise there. But what's striking is that of those that said MSNBC, 95% leaned Democrat. The NYT, 91%. NPR, 87%! Kind of makes me wonder what the trust numbers would be if the media outlets weren't increasingly becoming echo chambers.

Pils 6y ago
> This was a widely cited poll that asserted for the first time ever, the majority of Americans mistrust the mainstream media A poll released by the largest PR firm in the world[0], famous for their work with Walmart, GEO Group, Keystone XL, etc. Why would the creators of "Working Families for Walmart" ever try to manufacture consent? One wonders. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelman_(firm) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelman_(firm)
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  Reader distrusts media poll showing high distrust in media.
  - wernercd 6y ago
    and more importantly... reader shows obvious bias against Walmart... I wonder if he works for Target? (Lesson: Random idiots on the idiot yelling at each other about who can't be trusted pushing "conspiracy theories" about "The Wallsmart" pushing polls and people who don't believe the polls and etc etc etc. Yes... I'm one of those random idiots.)
- branweb 6y ago
  Manufacturing Consent is a book that had a big impact on how I perceive media, and I think it's wise to examine who's saying something and what their motives are, but I don't totally understand what you're saying. What's their motive here? I can't see a link between the narrative that people distrust media and their pr work for a bunch of gross corporations.
  - relaxing 6y ago
    Removing the media as an independent voice increases the power of the voices left. Meaning, one less force to counterbalance corporate power. Same reason Trump hammered on the media — one less voice to speak against him.
    - branweb 6y ago
      I'd buy that except the major media outlets are the corporate power.
      - relaxing 6y ago
        Well mostly, although corporate power is not a single entity or a unified bloc. And independent media does exist, just without the reach of the large operators.
aksss 6y ago
It surprised you that MSNBC, NYT, and NPR have primarily left-leaning audiences? Their coverage leans left like Fox News leans right, particularly MSNBC. If you asked the surveyed Republicans how much they trust Fox News specifically, I’m sure the stats would be a mirror image. Similarly, democrats trust a news industry which, outlet-for-outlet, is more aligned with what they want to hear. After all, it’s never “our” news we mistrust, it’s the other guys! Truthfully, I think the smart folks on both sides of the aisle know the news media is a for-profit business whose interests are tangential to telling the truth.
- PeterisP 6y ago
  I would have expected that these media have primarily left/right leaning audiences, but having the proportion be 95% of so is a bit surprising and even extreme.
- skinnymuch 6y ago
  The same MSNBC that shat on AOC up till it was obvious she was going to be a progressive darling/favorite among a portion of MSNBC viewers, mocked Ron Paul repeatedly*, and have never covered Bernie Sanders close to the way they cover the Democratic establishment? MSNBC is nothing like the lefts Fox. I completely agree with the point of hating the “other” guy’s news. I don’t think the vast majority of people distrust mainstream media. At least not their favorite outlets. NYT being beloved by a lot of my friends as one easy glaring example of typical highly educated well paid “liberal coastal elites” * principled progressives/hard left have quite a bit in common with principled libertarians. Ron Paul being one. Not his son though. Chapo Traphouse for example can recognize Ron Paul being legit. Or Jon Stewart for a more mainstream example.
  - philwelch 6y ago
    Trump supporters feel the same way about Fox that you feel about MSNBC. That’s why there’s OAN.
    - skinnymuch 6y ago
fenomas 6y ago
> if the media outlets weren't increasingly becoming echo chambers. This conclusion doesn't stand up. If the most popular network skews 93% republican, the alternatives are going to skew democrat regardless of how balanced they are.
- ameister14 6y ago
  That doesn't make sense. If one block is 93% blue, the other blocks are going to be more red than blue regardless of how balanced they are.
  - fenomas 6y ago
    Negatory - the sets being compared aren't independent. That is, the overall population is (roughly) half red and half blue. If you divide that population into groups - on whatever basis - and the largest group is 93% red, then it follows that some of the other groups are going to be mostly blue.
    - ameister14 6y ago
      That's only the case if you have equivalent populations and people can make only one choice, neither of which is true here.
      - fenomas 6y ago
        They're equivalent to a first approximation, and the numbers we're talking about are from a poll where respondents could make only one choice.
AnthonyMouse 6y ago
> Kind of makes me wonder what the trust numbers would be if the media outlets weren't increasingly becoming echo chambers. See also this: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-... Compare median Republican and median Democrat in 1994 (earliest year in the data, pretty close together) to where they are in 2017 (the latest year in the data).
- godelski 6y ago
  Is that graph set to keep the republican median constant and the rest relative from there? The associated link tells a much more nuanced story that I don't think really results in "mixed" being a fixed center point. But the article and graphic do show a deeply disturbing divide.
  - AnthonyMouse 6y ago
    > Is that graph set to keep the republican median constant and the rest relative from there? Nope. You can see the Republican line move to the left in 1999 and 2004 before moving back to about where it started. Remember that during the Clinton administration the Democrats were pretty ambivalent about gay marriage, signed the 1994 crime bill, nobody in office would have been willing to call themselves a socialist/communist etc. Now try to think of some issues where modern mainstream Republicans are significantly to the right of Reagan or Bush Senior.
  - s1artibartfast 6y ago
    I agree the associated link doesn't really support the infographic, as it shows the changes in party mean, not the heterogeneity of views held by individuals. That said, it makes total sense to me. It seems inherent in the definitions of a conservative/traditionalist party and progressive/change based party. On an anecdotal level, think about views and behaviors that were commonplace in the 80s and 90s, and how they are perceived today. Values of many on the right would be aligned with the older views, while many on the left have come to reject those views.
GoblinSlayer 6y ago
That looks like they trust approved media and distrust disapproved media. It's not a measure of trust in media, but a measure of media affiliation.

Pils 6y ago

> This was a widely cited poll that asserted for the first time ever, the majority of Americans mistrust the mainstream media A poll released by the largest PR firm in the world[0], famous for their work with Walmart, GEO Group, Keystone XL, etc. Why would the creators of "Working Families for Walmart" ever try to manufacture consent? One wonders. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelman_(firm) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelman_(firm)

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
Reader distrusts media poll showing high distrust in media.
- wernercd 6y ago
  and more importantly... reader shows obvious bias against Walmart... I wonder if he works for Target? (Lesson: Random idiots on the idiot yelling at each other about who can't be trusted pushing "conspiracy theories" about "The Wallsmart" pushing polls and people who don't believe the polls and etc etc etc. Yes... I'm one of those random idiots.)
branweb 6y ago
Manufacturing Consent is a book that had a big impact on how I perceive media, and I think it's wise to examine who's saying something and what their motives are, but I don't totally understand what you're saying. What's their motive here? I can't see a link between the narrative that people distrust media and their pr work for a bunch of gross corporations.
- relaxing 6y ago
  Removing the media as an independent voice increases the power of the voices left. Meaning, one less force to counterbalance corporate power. Same reason Trump hammered on the media — one less voice to speak against him.
  - branweb 6y ago
    I'd buy that except the major media outlets are the corporate power.
    - relaxing 6y ago
      Well mostly, although corporate power is not a single entity or a unified bloc. And independent media does exist, just without the reach of the large operators.

aksss 6y ago

It surprised you that MSNBC, NYT, and NPR have primarily left-leaning audiences? Their coverage leans left like Fox News leans right, particularly MSNBC. If you asked the surveyed Republicans how much they trust Fox News specifically, I’m sure the stats would be a mirror image. Similarly, democrats trust a news industry which, outlet-for-outlet, is more aligned with what they want to hear. After all, it’s never “our” news we mistrust, it’s the other guys! Truthfully, I think the smart folks on both sides of the aisle know the news media is a for-profit business whose interests are tangential to telling the truth.

PeterisP 6y ago
I would have expected that these media have primarily left/right leaning audiences, but having the proportion be 95% of so is a bit surprising and even extreme.
skinnymuch 6y ago
The same MSNBC that shat on AOC up till it was obvious she was going to be a progressive darling/favorite among a portion of MSNBC viewers, mocked Ron Paul repeatedly*, and have never covered Bernie Sanders close to the way they cover the Democratic establishment? MSNBC is nothing like the lefts Fox. I completely agree with the point of hating the “other” guy’s news. I don’t think the vast majority of people distrust mainstream media. At least not their favorite outlets. NYT being beloved by a lot of my friends as one easy glaring example of typical highly educated well paid “liberal coastal elites” * principled progressives/hard left have quite a bit in common with principled libertarians. Ron Paul being one. Not his son though. Chapo Traphouse for example can recognize Ron Paul being legit. Or Jon Stewart for a more mainstream example.
- philwelch 6y ago
  Trump supporters feel the same way about Fox that you feel about MSNBC. That’s why there’s OAN.
  - skinnymuch 6y ago

fenomas 6y ago

> if the media outlets weren't increasingly becoming echo chambers. This conclusion doesn't stand up. If the most popular network skews 93% republican, the alternatives are going to skew democrat regardless of how balanced they are.

ameister14 6y ago
That doesn't make sense. If one block is 93% blue, the other blocks are going to be more red than blue regardless of how balanced they are.
- fenomas 6y ago
  Negatory - the sets being compared aren't independent. That is, the overall population is (roughly) half red and half blue. If you divide that population into groups - on whatever basis - and the largest group is 93% red, then it follows that some of the other groups are going to be mostly blue.
  - ameister14 6y ago
    That's only the case if you have equivalent populations and people can make only one choice, neither of which is true here.
    - fenomas 6y ago
      They're equivalent to a first approximation, and the numbers we're talking about are from a poll where respondents could make only one choice.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago

> Kind of makes me wonder what the trust numbers would be if the media outlets weren't increasingly becoming echo chambers. See also this: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-polarization-1994-2017/ https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/interactives/political-... Compare median Republican and median Democrat in 1994 (earliest year in the data, pretty close together) to where they are in 2017 (the latest year in the data).

godelski 6y ago
Is that graph set to keep the republican median constant and the rest relative from there? The associated link tells a much more nuanced story that I don't think really results in "mixed" being a fixed center point. But the article and graphic do show a deeply disturbing divide.
- AnthonyMouse 6y ago
  > Is that graph set to keep the republican median constant and the rest relative from there? Nope. You can see the Republican line move to the left in 1999 and 2004 before moving back to about where it started. Remember that during the Clinton administration the Democrats were pretty ambivalent about gay marriage, signed the 1994 crime bill, nobody in office would have been willing to call themselves a socialist/communist etc. Now try to think of some issues where modern mainstream Republicans are significantly to the right of Reagan or Bush Senior.
- s1artibartfast 6y ago
  I agree the associated link doesn't really support the infographic, as it shows the changes in party mean, not the heterogeneity of views held by individuals. That said, it makes total sense to me. It seems inherent in the definitions of a conservative/traditionalist party and progressive/change based party. On an anecdotal level, think about views and behaviors that were commonplace in the 80s and 90s, and how they are perceived today. Values of many on the right would be aligned with the older views, while many on the left have come to reject those views.

GoblinSlayer 6y ago

That looks like they trust approved media and distrust disapproved media. It's not a measure of trust in media, but a measure of media affiliation.