The news media is under attack.

This started during President Donald Trump’s campaign, where he accused the “liberal news media” of being biased against him, following accusations of “fake news” stories after the 2016 election, and followed as the president levied accusations of “fake news” against any media outlet that questioned him.

These stories have a real impact on Americans on both sides of the political spectrum. In 2017, Pew reported that only 34 percent of Democrats and 11 percent of Republicans trust their source on national news. While a level of skepticism is healthy, it’s also worth noting that cries of “fake news” lead people to only trusting their own bias, or their own biased news source.

It would be one thing if this kind of dialogue only caused mistrust, but it doesn’t. The New York Post reported that a man planned an armed attack on CNN because he believed that it is “fake news.” Does CNN have a liberal bias? Yes, absolutely. Does that mean that everything it reports is wrong?

No, it doesn’t.

The job of the news media is to report on events, national and local. It may have a partisan bent – by all means people should get news from multiple sources – but that doesn’t make it a villain. Don’t get all of your news from Fox and Breitbart, and don’t get all of your news from MSNBC. Check out local news sources. Read The Hill, read Politico, read columnists who make you uncomfortable.

When you find yourself confronted with the truth: believe it.

And when someone tells you that journalists are lying to you, that they want to trick you, you have to doubt them.

About The Author

-- Chief Copy Editor Emeritus-- Politics

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