Originally posted by pathdoc They should be held to a much higher standard than this. If they are incapable of meeting it then they should be broken as a profession, their credentials withdrawn, their practitioners shunned, and the professors who train them sacked, over and over again, until they have once more attained a standard of impartiality and professionalism and restored their public trust.
Right now the profession as a whole is three or four rungs below used car salesmen in my eyes, with only a very few shining lights.
The problem is that journalism is now at the same level as professional photography or home renovation contractor. Sure, you can go to school and learn your craft, but there is no requirement. Give anyone a tool belt and a battery operated drill and they can call themselves a contractor. Give anyone a camera and they can call themselves a pro photographer. Give anyone a cell phone and they can call themselves a reporter.
The profession isn't helped by dumb azzes who feel it is OK to denigrate the professional media simply because they report what they see, and a bunch of dumber azzes who go along with it because it fits a narrative that they want to believe.
The situation hasn't been helped by news organizations becoming nakedly political, quite often passing off dishonest editorializing in "commentary" programming with virtually no warning to consumers that they are giving airtime to what are often little more than hit pieces.
Twenty Four hour news channels need to have time fillers. Combine this with networks becoming the official outlets of political parties and politicians calling news outlets that don't toe their party's line fake news and the like, and no controls on who can call themselves a news outlet and it's not surprising that the media is now viewed with the type of suspicion that you have.
People have become intellectually lazy, and will believe what they are being fed if it fit's what they want to believe. Case in point, the idiot that shot up the pizza place in Washington DC. Apparently he still believes that there was a child sex ring being operated out of the place, his only admission is that he could have handled things better. With this sort of mental midget becoming the norm, and troll websites passing themselves off as news being willing to feed into their fears, it's not surprising we are where we are.
People need to learn how to think for themselves again. People need to stop believing what is not believable, and start believing verified facts that are put before them. People need to call out those who lie and call their lies "alternative facts" for what they are, which is liars supporting liars, and shun media outlets who support these liars.
We need to become our own fact checkers because as you say, there aren't a lot of shining stars out there who report honestly.