Are journalists betraying their values? No, it’s the public who are wrong, says Washington Post writer – By Russia Today Newsroom (Russia Today) / April 14 2021
American journalists think of themselves as crusaders for truth, transparency, and the little guy. But when the public isn’t buying it, they get defensive, as the Washington Post’s Margaret Sullivan recently proved.
According to Sullivan, there is a “troubling disconnect” between “core journalistic values” – oversight, transparency, factuality, spotlighting wrongdoing, and giving a “voice to the voiceless” – and the American public.
New research shows a troubling disconnect between core journalistic values (accountability, transparency, giving a voice to the less powerful) and the American public. My column breaks it down https://t.co/iDnqTNVlR2
— Margaret Sullivan (@Sulliview) April 14, 2021
Citing a new study by the American Press Institute, Sullivan on Wednesday lamented the fact that these values just don’t seem to resonate with the public anymore. Only 1 in 10 Americans support all five of these values, and when the API’s researchers split the public into four groups – the so-called “Upholders, Loyalists, Moralists, and Journalism Supporters” – only 2 in 10 fell into the latter group.
Faced with declining trust in the media – down from 70% in the 1970s to 40% last year – Sullivan thinks that journalists aren’t doing anything wrong, but are still forced to “explain to a distrustful public that, ‘we’re not biased, we’re just doing our jobs,’” in the words of API Director Tom Rosenstiel.
CONTINUE > https://www.rt.com/usa/521062-wapo-public-trust-journalists/
