People Still Hate The Press: Where Is Walter Cronkite?

Members of the press nearly always place themselves above politicians, military officers, and even evangelists in their own minds. It is an odd decision, although it is at the core of how the news media defines itself. The point of view allows writers and broadcasters, and even bloggers to justify their work. They are superior. And, it is another way to rationalize their low pay.

Americans loathe the press which makes its place on its own pedestal hard to justify.

A new Gallup poll shows that “The 28% of Americans who express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers and the 27% who say the same about television news still lag significantly behind the levels of trust seen through much of the 1990s and into 2003.” It is another oddity that people will only see the Gallup results if they see them published by news organizations.

The Gallup poll does not mention Andrew Breitbart, Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O’Reilly. Maybe it shouldn’t. For all anyone knows The New York Times, TIME Magazine, and the CBS Evening News should be included in the “trust meter.” Certainly people think most media have agendas. Maybe its because many do and it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad.

Whatever the cause, it is a shame that Americans no longer think well of one of their most critical sources of intelligence.

Douglas A. McIntyre