MEDIA MELTDOWN AND POLITICAL POLARIZATION
IN PURSUIT OF THE TRUTH - HTTP://WWW.CINOPSBEGONE.BLOGSPOT.COM -THURS. OCT. 24/19
THANKS TO JOEL KOTKIN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, SUN. OCT. 20, 2019, EXCERPTS:
" Since the bust of of the Mueller report, and the evaporation of countless other "blockbuster" exposes, the media's credibility in the ongoing impeachment saga is now widely doubted, even if this time they may actually be right about presidential misdeeds.
This divide can be seen in public perceptions of the news media. Although somewhat improved from its low point in 2016, only 40 percent of Americans, according to Gallup, trust the media, compare to over 50 percent in 1999. As befits the media's increasing partisan stance, the small improvement over 2016 comes almost entirely from Democrats.
Only 15% of Republicans and barely a third of independents now trust media compared to nearly 70% of Democrats. Once the news media had enough sense of propriety and professionalism to at least maintain an appearance of objectivity.There's ample reason, as Glenn Reynolds suggests, to see that many mainstream journalists are little more than "Democrats with bylines," willing participants in what long-time leftists and fiercely and anti-Trump reporter Matt Taibbi describes as the upper bureaucracy's "Permanent Coup," against Trump. If this "coup" now actually succeeds, it will be one that will simply accentuate hostility to the media among large segments of the population.
Media faces an economic crisis:
No president has suffered such total opposition from powerful media. In his first year in office stories about Trump were 62 percent negative, notes Pew, almost three the rate for Obama and more than twice that for George W. Bush, certainly no media favorite. His positive coverage was barely 5 percent. one-eight that enjoyed by President Obama... The New York Times de facto leader of the anti-Trump media lynch mod, has seen its subscription burgeon, notably online.
But the Times enjoys a unique status with upper-class, educated readers. In contrast the mass audience seems to be turned off with the non-stop political haranguing. The almost comical anti-Trump CNN has seen its ratings drop so far that it now trails not only prime time leaders Fox, behind ESPN, Hallmark Chanel, History,TBS and others. Overall, all forms of media have suffered double digit drops since 2016 according to Pew.
The timing couldn't be worse.. Google alone made $4.7 billion alone last year from news publishers whose industry continues to shrink ... Over 1800 local papers have gone out of existence since 2004...
When I was a young reporter, papers like the Kansas City Star, the Louisville Courier and the old L.A. Herald Examiner were well-staffed, great dailies that not only covered news, but often with a very different perspective than the large coastal media. ...
Today that kind of working-class journalist has been replaced by younger reporters who often hail from elite universities These young journalist, as Obama speechwriter Ben Rhoades noted did not have to cover city councils and other boring local minutiae... They may be good test-takers, but literally know nothing about the real world that people unlike, themselves inhabit...
Many in media hope non-stop impeachment coverage, or continued unraveling of Trump's inner circle, with both revive their fortunes and expel the hated Trump. The murky events in Ukraine also could undermine the credibility of the fledgling pro-Trump media, which could lead to even greater media homogeneity. The emergency impeachment saga is likely to accelerate not only the alienation of much of the population from the press but also create challenges for our democracy.
With the demise of press diversity and openness, readers will be increasing faced with a media that barely hides it prejudices, but instead offers largely alternative realities that may be only occasionally real and rarely edifying."
George H. Kubeck
P.S. "For Christians, it's a badge of honor to be hated by the culture of death advocates."
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