Media Distrust

The mainstream media has been beset for some time with attacks of partisanism and inaccurate reporting. Incidents such as CBS' use of forged documents to attempt to throw the 2004 election to John Kerry and The New Republic's recent use of false reports from a soldier in Iraq merely accentuate the Press' many problems both with accuracy and with objectivity.

A new Pew poll is a real eye-opener, however. The poll reports that well over half of Americans believe the US Press Corps is biased, inaccurate and uncaring. The poll reports that,

More than half of Americans say US news organizations are politically biased, inaccurate, and don't care about the people they report on, a poll published Thursday showed.

And poll respondents who use the Internet as their main source of news -- roughly one quarter of all Americans -- were even harsher with their criticism, the poll conducted by the Pew Research Center said.

More than two-thirds of the Internet users said they felt that news organizations don't care about the people they report on; 59 percent said their reporting was inaccurate; and 64 percent they were politically biased.

More than half -- 53 percent -- of Internet users also faulted the news organizations for "failing to stand up for America".

To me, this is vindication. The MSM has done an abysmal job over the past few years, and their uncalled-for attacks on the current Administration are of a viciousness heretofore unseen in American politics. I also find the report that 53 percent are unhappy with the media's stand toward their own country interesting. It seems that these oh-so-clever members of a "world citizenry" are joining a world citizenry at the expense of the respect of their fellow Americans. And no member of the Press can claim that the media coverage of US efforts anywhere in the world ahas been favorable at all. MSM outlets are always happy to interview high-ranking terrorists, or people who shout "Death to America", but are strangely afraid to publish reports that reflect well on the US troops who are so bravely protecting these reporters.

Maybe this will being to make these false reporters think about where their true loyalties lie. And maybe they might even rethink how they report events to more accurately portray their fellow countrymen and women.