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Opinion

The Media Will Never Be Trusted

“Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” The truth of this statement is evident, especially as it applies to the media in the United States today.

Before 2016, the news media was generally perceived as liberal. Mainstream media has, nearly from its inception, leaned to the left. However, as Bruce Thornton of the Hoover Institute wrote in 2013, “this unsavory relationship between the media and the Democrats has long existed, but the political career of Barack Obama marks a quantum leap beyond the media’s traditional liberal preferences and biases––which in the past had at least a patina of objectivity and neutrality––to blatant advocacy, double standards, and explicit partisan hatred.”

What became blatant, partisan hackery during the Obama administration morphed into an ugly, lying, hateful media that is perceived as doing whatever they can to get rid of President Trump and shame his supporters.

Mollie Hemingway wryly observed, “It used to be said that the media acted as a public relations arm of the Democrat Parry. I think it’s much easier to just understand them as essentially running the Biden campaign, particularly with the trouble that Biden is having in terms of typical campaigning.” She concluded, “It doesn’t matter so much what the media are saying, because I think they’re so extreme that people are just having trouble believing anything that they have to say.”

Hemingway was correct. The media has lost all objectivity, and more than half of the American people no longer believe what they are being told.

CNN claimed to be “The Most Trusted Name in the News,” That statement is laughable. Business Insider notes and quotes a Morning Consult study that shows CNN’s credibility has fallen 20% since 2016. That’s huge. Remember, CNN prior to 2016 wasn’t seen as fair or objective. Now, it’s fallen 20% further!

The New York Times was once arguably the most influential newspaper in the United States. Now, though, the New York Times is nothing more than a biased arm of the Democrats.

Jim Rutenberg nearly claimed as much in an August 7, 2016 editorial when he wrote, “Balance has been on vacation since Mr. Trump stepped onto his golden Trump Tower escalator last year to announce his candidacy.” Rutenberg’s essay concludes, “It is journalism’s job to be true to the readers and viewers, and true to the facts, in a way that will stand up to history’s judgment. To do anything less would be untenable.”

Mr. Rutenberg, you failed.

Just what Rutenberg’s paper thinks of us who supported the president can be seen in David Brooks’s editorial from November 28, 2020. He wrote, “In a recent Monmouth University survey, 77% of Donald Trump’s backers said Joe Biden had won the presidential election because of fraud. Many of these same people think climate change is not real. Many of these same people believe they don’t need to listen to scientific experts on how to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. We live in a country in epistemological crisis, in which much of the Republican Party has become detached from reality.”

Did you catch that? You and I are just detached from reality. It isn’t the left. No, they’re spot on. It’s not the media. No sir. They have a firm grasp on what’s true and right. They think the problem is you and me. We’re just too stupid to ascertain facts and determine truth.

We do get it, though, Throughout the Trump presidency, the facts did not matter to the media. Rutenberg’s own paper pushed the fake Russian collusion narrative and sought to undermine a duly elected president. CNN and other mainstream media outlets ran multiple false stories and lies about the Trump administration. How many times did we see Rep. Adam Schiff promise that he had evidence of collusion?

Those of us who supported the president, we still had Fox News, or so we thought.

Fox News has become part of the mainstream media. There’s no other way to write it. The election night coverage was the “coming out” party which had been hinted at for a long time. Fox News has seen an exodus of viewers which I think will continue.

No, Mr. Brooks. We are not stupid. The mainstream media, collectively, sold their journalistic soul to get Trump and his supporters. We believe it is entirely possible that the Democrats and the media would lie and cheat to win an election. In fact, we believe it happened. I don’t know if it can be proved in court or not, but that will never change the fact that we believe it. We’ll just never believe you or your colleagues.

Bill Thomas

Bill Thomas lives in Washington, Missouri and is a professor at St. Louis Christian College. He's also on staff at First Christian Church in Washington, Missouri. He's authored two novellas, From the Ashes and The Sixty-First Minute published by White Feather Press of MI and three Bible studies, Surrounded by Grace, The Critical Questions and More and The Road to Victory published by CSS Publishing of OH.

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