Who Trusts the Media Anyway?
Not Trump-supporting Republicans, for sure.
I’m Scott Nover. Welcome back to Pressing, a newsletter about press freedom. Thank you for being a paid subscriber—this is a special feature for you and I hope you enjoy.
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The Partisan Divide in Media Trust
A brand new Pew Research Center study — combining responses from more than 50 different surveys they’ve conducted recently — shows that partisanship is the number one indicator of people’s trust in journalists. 31% of Republicans say that journalists employ “very low ethical standards” while only 5% of Democratic respondents say the same.
President Donald Trump is a major factor. When you parse out Republican respondents by their approval of the president, you see a huge divide. When you isolate Republicans who strongly approve of Trump’s performance in office, that 31% shoots up to 40%. For Republicans who “somewhat approve” of Trump, the number falls to 17%. And for Republicans who disapprove of him, only 12% believe that journalists have low ethical standards.
The divide between Democrats and Republicans on this issue is nothing new. Some say the animosity between conservatives and the news media can be traced back to the Barry Goldwater campaign of 1964. Here’s Nicole Hemmer writing in The Atlantic in 2014:
During his presidential run, the media bedeviled Goldwater. His press secretary even handed out gold pins to reporters that read “Eastern Liberal Press.”
His supporters reacted even more strongly. During the campaign, Morrie Ryskind, a conservative columnist, declared the coverage so pro-Lyndon Johnson that “I’m surprised when ‘TILT’ doesn’t flash across the screen to the accompaniment of a warning red light.” And after Goldwater’s landslide loss, conservative media outlets made bias the centerpiece of their explanation of the election’s outcome. A few weeks after the election, a Manion Forum newsletter bitterly concluded, “There was no ‘chance for a choice.’ The great issues were blacked out in a dense fog of vituperation and misrepresentation by columnists, radio and TV commentators, a left-wing press, and Liberal candidates who played upon popular fears, unfounded in fact, unjustified and unwarranted even in fancy.”
In calling coverage of Goldwater “unfounded in fact,” Manion was making another argument to which conservatives anchored their charges of liberal bias: Established media did not just slant the news—they fabricated it. And if established media couldn’t be counted on for truth, the argument went, then surely they should be required to offer both sides of the argument. In the years that followed, conservatives began an active campaign against liberal bias, organized by groups like the Committee to Combat Bias in Broadcasting and Reed Irvine’s Accuracy in Media.
(You can read her full piece here.)
According to Hemmer, these anti-press motifs were picked up by President Richard Nixon, who cast the news media — particularly those at the influential television networks — as privileged elites, out of touch with average America.
Sound familiar?
When I talk about trust in media and the partisan divide, I think it’s important to trace the roots. Conservative distrust of media did not start with Donald Trump. And while it didn’t start with Roger Ailes or Rush Limbaugh either, the role of conservative media — especially Fox News Channel and talk radio — cannot be ignored. In the business model of conservative media, there’s one central claim: the mainstream news you might read in The New York Times or watch on CBS is liberal.
Let’s fast forward, for convenience sake.
Currently, Trump’s cold war with the press shows no sign of slowing down. He insults reporters, calls us “fake news” and the “enemy of the people,” tries to kick journalists out of the White House, stops his press secretary from holding briefings, and pushes administration officials to softball interviews on Fox.
While the straight-laced journalists of Fox News are few and far between — especially with the recent departure of Shep Smith — Chris Wallace is still a force of nature. And his comments at the Newseum last night were breathtaking.
“I believe President Trump is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history,” Wallace told a crowd in Washington, D.C.
Wow.
But, he continued:
“Because I think many of our colleagues in the news business see the president's attacks — his constant bashing of the media — as a rationale, as an excuse to cross the line themselves to push back,” he said. “And that is a big mistake.”
This is the essence of Chris Wallace: He’s a stalwart newsman and broadcaster, but he also holds sympathy toward the critiques of a “liberal media” pushed by his network. He’s a fascinating character.
So, take his first comment and internalize it. He’s not making that up, whether or not his second comment holds weight.
But the assault on truth is bigger than his network and our current president. Press bashing has long been a staple of Republican politics. And that’s not changing anytime soon.
Why? Simple: it works.
Thanks for reading Pressing today and always. I’ll see you on Tuesday! Send tips and feedback to sgnover@gmail.com.