Media must regain public’s trust

A large swath of the American people no longer trust the media. It’s a sad reality for people in our industry, but it’s reality nevertheless. It’s something the media has brought upon itself, with its 24-hour news cycles that are less journalism and more opinion with two (or more) people screaming and each other, you, or both, giving you a narrative that fits that channel’s political agenda.
Channels like MSNBC, CNN and Fox News do not exist to give you news, but rather, entertain you. These are not channels that care about journalistic integrity. They care about preaching to the choir that has tuned in to watch them. Fox News admitted as much when it was sued by Dominion for peddling phony conspiracy theories that claimed its equipment switched votes from former President Donald Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Fox News settled for $787 million. CNN, NBC and The Washington Post settled with Nick Sandmann (he sought around $275 million) after those outlets accused him of taunting and mocking a Native American protester at the end of the Indigenous People’s March, which later was shown not to be the case.
The Washington Post recently made waves when for the first time in years it declined to endorse a candidate for president. Some applauded the decision, while others threatened to or did cancel their subscription.
In an opinion piece Post owner Jeff Bezos wrote Oct. 28, he said the paper did not endorse a candidate because doing so would creates a perception of bias.
“Ending them is a principled decision, and it’s the right one,” Bezos wrote. “Now more than ever the world needs a credible, trusted, independent voice, and where better for that voice to originate than the capital city of the most important country in the world?”
We believe this is a step in the right direction. Fair or unfair, Bezos is correct—endorsing a candidate automatically turns off half of the country and gets you accused of bias. The Chronicle does not endorse candidates for office for that very reason. Of course, the Chronicle isn’t nearly as large or as relevant as the Washington Post, but you get the idea. It’s a no-win situation, regardless of the size of the publication.
And as Bezos wrote in his piece, the endorsements do nothing to tip the scales of an election. No one is going to look at who a newspaper endorsed and think to themselves, “You know, I was on the fence about this person, but since (Newspaper X) said they like them the best, that’s the way I’m going to vote.” That’s just not the way it works.
These days, the media is all lumped in together. We all suffer the consequences of the actions of a few outlets who clearly have an agenda. That’s unfortunate. Here at the Chronicle, we will continue to give you unbiased news (opinions are for this, the opinion page) and stay away from political endorsements. When we do wade into the political waters, we will take both sides of the aisle to task when needed.
Media doing things the right way deserved to be believed. This is a step in the right direction.