The American media has finally achieved something truly historic — and no, it’s not Pulitzer-worthy reporting or a courageous stand for truth. It’s a complete collapse in public trust. Congratulations, mainstream media: after decades of smug moralizing, selective outrage, and fact-optional journalism, only 28% of Americans still believe you’re telling the truth. That’s not just bad. That’s “you-shouldn’t-be-running-a-lemonade-stand” bad.
Gallup, bless their polling hearts, has been tracking how much Americans trust the media since the disco era, back when people actually believed Walter Cronkite wasn’t trying to sell them a narrative. In the 1970s, about 70% of Americans thought the media was doing a decent job. Fast forward to now, and that number’s flipped on its head. Nearly three-quarters of the country thinks the media is full of it, with 34% saying they trust the press about as much as they trust a used car salesman with a neck tattoo.
Let’s break it down by tribe, because in this country, everything’s tribal now. Republicans? Their trust in the media is now at 8%. That’s not a typo. That’s single digits. You’d have better luck finding a vegan at a Texas BBQ joint than a Republican who thinks CNN is telling the truth. Independents aren’t much better, sitting at a sad 27%. And Democrats — the media’s last remaining fan club — are barely holding on at 51%, down from their usual “see no evil, hear no evil” levels of blind faith. When even Democrats are getting squirmy about media bias, you know the game’s up.
What could possibly explain this epic nosedive? Oh, just a never-ending string of screw-ups, cover-ups, and outright propaganda. Remember the Gaza hospital story from The New York Times? They ran a front-page piece blaming Israel for bombing a hospital — based entirely on claims from Hamas. Turns out, surprise, it wasn’t true. Editors were reportedly warned not to run with it, but hey, when the narrative fits, why wait for facts?
Then there’s the Kamala Harris plagiarism story — or rather, the non-story. The Times downplayed it like they were trying to hide your cousin’s bad karaoke at a wedding. Compare that to how they handled Melania Trump’s plagiarism allegations, which got wall-to-wall coverage and enough faux outrage to power a wind farm. Same act, different party, totally different treatment. But sure, no bias here.
And let’s not forget President Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times for smearing his business reputation. Say what you want about Trump’s ego (and yes, it’s roughly the size of Texas), but the man’s not wrong about the media’s obsession with dragging his name through the mud — facts be damned.
Meanwhile, the Media Research Center just released a report showing that network news coverage during the government shutdown was about as balanced as a seesaw with an elephant on one end. ABC, CBS, and NBC reportedly spent 87% of their shutdown coverage parroting Democratic talking points. Criticism of Democrats? A whopping twelve mentions. Over multiple weeks. Across three major networks. That’s not journalism — that’s public relations with better lighting.
The real tragedy here isn’t just that the media has lost the public’s trust. It’s that they don’t seem to care. They’re like a bad boyfriend who keeps cheating and then acts shocked when you change the locks. Instead of fixing their credibility problem, they double down on the same garbage that got them here — anonymous sources, partisan spin, and an allergy to context whenever it makes their team look bad.
So now, here we are. The media has become a punchline, a meme, a cautionary tale. And while they’re busy patting themselves on the back for “speaking truth to power,” the public is tuning out in record numbers. Trust is gone. The audience is gone. And pretty soon, the only people watching will be interns and the people they’re quoting.
Honestly, they earned it.