Trust in media is at record lows

[lismore]

People are far more likely to trust things that they agree with and confirm their biases.

True. There's an expression in this country- an echo chamber. A sign of the polarization of Western societies. God Bless

 

[KCfromNC]

"Arrogant" isn't "name-calling".

This isn't the argument of a post which wishes to be taken seriously.

 

[probinson]

This isn't the argument of a post which wishes to be taken seriously.

Sure it is.

"Arrogant" is an adjective. It is not a "name". Adjectives describe people, places or things.

When someone presumes that they have a monopoly on "facts", that is, by definition, arrogant. Or more accurately as the example in definition 2 above states, an "arrogant claim".

OTOH, name-calling is when someone makes up a derisive name, like "orange man", or "Commie Harris". Politics is rife with people calling each other names. But when one uses an adjective to describe someone or something that fits the definition of that adjective, that is not "name calling".

 

[iluvatar5150]

What I find amusing about this article is not that they marvel that Trump was inside a McDonald's serving fries for 15 minutes to pre-screened people in the drive thru, but rather they say that he is pushing an "unsubstantiated claim" that Harris has never worked at McDonald's. In reality, the Harris campaign hasn't been able to provide any proof at all that Harris ever worked at McDonald's beyond the campaign simply asserting it as being so. In the days of real journalism, it may have been the case that the article would have been more truthful and said that Harris has made an "unsubstantiated claim" of working at McDonald's. Indeed, if you read far enough, WaPo finally says this in the 17th paragraph:

NYT interviewed one of her childhood friends who confirmed the story:

Kamala Harris and McDonald’s: A College Job, and a Trump Attack

Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that Ms. Harris never worked at the fast-food chain. Her campaign and a friend say she did.

www.nytimes.com

I worked at Pizza Hut in high school and college. I still have every one of my paystubs from that job from 1994-1995, 30 years ago. Eh, maybe I just keep better records than the Vice President of the United States.

No, you apparently keep better records than a college student from the 1980's.

But why would you keep those records? There's no need for them. You're not going to be audited on anything that old. Any employment history recent enough for anybody to care about can be verified from third-party sources online. I shred all of my papers after about 5-7 unless I have a pressing desire to keep them.

 

[probinson]

NYT interviewed one of her childhood friends who confirmed the story:

Kamala Harris and McDonald’s: A College Job, and a Trump Attack

Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that Ms. Harris never worked at the fast-food chain. Her campaign and a friend say she did.

www.nytimes.com

Oh. Well if her childhood friend said so....

It's good to see the crack journalists at the NYT on the case of confirming whether Harris worked at McDonald's in the 80s.

No, you apparently keep better records than a college student from the 1980's.

I was a college student in the mid-90's. I was 17 when I graduated high school. I apparently keep better records than her regardless of the time period of my life.

But why would you keep those records? There's no need for them. You're not going to be audited on anything that old. Any employment history recent enough for anybody to care about can be verified from third-party sources online. I shred all of my papers after about 5-7 unless I have a pressing desire to keep them.

Because they fit in a neat little folder in my filing cabinet? I have every pay stub from every job I've ever had.

 

[probinson]

Oh come on...

But The New York Times interviewed a friend who had known Ms. Harris as a teenager and remained in touch with the family for years afterward. Wanda Kagan, a close friend of Ms. Harris’s when they attended high school together in Montreal, said she recalled Ms. Harris having worked at McDonald’s around that time.​

Answering questions by email, Ms. Kagan said that Ms. Harris’s mother, who died in 2009, had told Ms. Kagan about the summer job years ago. ​

​

So Ms. Kagan does NOT actually recall Harris working at McDonald's. She recalls Harris' mother telling her that she worked at McDonald's.

 

[rambot]

It's gonna be a LOT easier to steal an election if trust in news media is low.

Kudos to the individuals, whoever they are. I'm sure they are hoping their hard work pays off for them.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Oh come on...

But The New York Times interviewed a friend who had known Ms. Harris as a teenager and remained in touch with the family for years afterward. Wanda Kagan, a close friend of Ms. Harris’s when they attended high school together in Montreal, said she recalled Ms. Harris having worked at McDonald’s around that time.​

Answering questions by email, Ms. Kagan said that Ms. Harris’s mother, who died in 2009, had told Ms. Kagan about the summer job years ago. ​

​

So Ms. Kagan does NOT actually recall Harris working at McDonald's. She recalls Harris' mother telling her that she worked at McDonald's.

ok?

Regardless, it still means that Trump and others in his camp are lying through their teeth about their claim that Harris is lying. They're literally making things up, while she merely hasn't provided documentation for her claims. Any way you spin this, what Trump et al are doing is at least as bad as what she's doing.

 

[stevil]

I find this interesting. Why do you think Democrats are far more likely to trust mass media than any other political group?

Republican supporters are conditioned in USA not to trust official sources. They don't trust government, FBI, CIA, IRD, Courts, Elections, Social Media, Medical science, environmental science, science in general, media etc. They only trust "news" that they like not news that they don't like. And when they have a corrupt bunch of polititions and leader figures getting caught and charged for crimes, they refuse to accept it, and decide without looking into it, that these charges and news sources are untrustworthy. They now seek some very backwater sources for their information. Which is by and large why they are so poorly informed. They are currently employing the "Don't look up" strategy.

 

[probinson]

ok?

This is hardly a corroborated source. A friend that lost touch with Harris that talked to her mother about the time she worked at McDonald's years ago. This is what the New York Times considers an authoritative source now?

Regardless, it still means that Trump and others in his camp are lying through their teeth about their claim that Harris is lying.

It doesn't mean that at all. It means none of us know for certain if Harris worked at McDonald's or not. For me the more interesting question is, why is it so important to the Harris campaign to defend the claim that Harris worked at McDonald's? guess it's critical to the "middle class" narrative they've been pushing.

Any way you spin this, what Trump et al are doing is at least as bad as what she's doing.

Both parties are making unsubstantiated claims while only one is being called on it and the other is being given a pass. But any you spin it, they are both unsubstantiated claims.

 

[probinson]

Republican supporters are conditioned in USA not to trust official sources.

It's not just Republicans that don't trust the media. In fact, if you look at the survey, you'll see that only 58% of Democrats have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in mass media, which means a whopping 48% of Democrats have "little trust" or "none at all". I know you worked hard to make a questionable list of all the things the bad Republicans don't trust, but you have to acknowledge that nearly half of Democrats lack trust in the mass media as well.

When official sources make up nonsense, it's very wise not to trust them. It's actually kind of surprising to me how much trust some people put in "official sources" that have proven themselves to be untrustworthy.

 

[stevil]

It's not just Republicans that don't trust the media. In fact, if you look at the survey, you'll see that only 58% of Democrats have a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in mass media, which means a whopping 48% of Democrats have "little trust" or "none at all". I know you worked hard to make a questionable list of all the things the bad Republicans don't trust, but you have to acknowledge that nearly half of Democrats lack trust in the mass media as well.

When official sources make up nonsense, it's very wise not to trust them. It's actually kind of surprising to me how much trust some people put in "official sources" that have proven themselves to be untrustworthy.

Yeah but looking at that chart, there is a very significant difference between the trust Republicans vs Democrats have in the media.

 

[probinson]

Yeah but looking at that chart, there is a very significant difference between the trust Republicans vs Democrats have in the media.

That's true. There's also a very significant difference between Independents and Democrats. Democrats are the outlier here. Why do you suppose that is?

 

[stevil]

That's true. There's also a very significant difference between Independents and Democrats. Democrats are the outlier here. Why do you suppose that is?

I think Democrat supporters are much less likely to watch and listen to Fox news opinion shows, less likely to trust Trump when he says not to believe what the media is saying. There has been a massive campaign under Trump to discredit and sow distrust in official sources and media.

Certainly Democrat supporters by and large didn't go off the deep end in covid conspiracies about a plandemic, and haven't gone off the deep end about lawfare.

I'd say if you asked Democrat supporters details about these things, they'd be able to talk about the various cases and evidences and stuff, were Republican supporters will just talk in generalities and assertions

 

[rambot]

I also think part of the republican strategy is to undermine trust in news.

So when news media portray insurrection and attacks on democracy, they won't be believed to be what they were.

 

[probinson]

I also think part of the republican strategy is to undermine trust in news.

How do you think they're doing that?

 

[essentialsaltes]

How do you think they're doing that?

'Enemy of the people': Trump's phrase and its echoes of totalitarianism​

Donald Trump’s repeated use of the phrase “enemies of the people” in his attacks on the media has stoked anger and fear not only because of general concerns that he is demonising a pillar of American democracy, but because of its echoes of totaliariansim.

 

[stevil]

How do you think they're doing that?

Didn't the Republican speaker of the house give Jan 6 footage to Tucker and then Tucker cherry picked footage and created a false narrative of a peaceful tourist visit, where the security and police were waving people in and giving them guided tours?

The Republican Senators almost all voted against convicting Trump of high crimes and misdameanors giving the public the false impression that Trump was innocent. You have many Republicans going to the media, denying the 2020 election results, etc

 

[probinson]

'Enemy of the people': Trump's phrase and its echoes of totalitarianism​

Donald Trump’s repeated use of the phrase “enemies of the people” in his attacks on the media has stoked anger and fear not only because of general concerns that he is demonising a pillar of American democracy, but because of its echoes of totaliariansim.

You think that Trump calling the media "enemies of the people" is why nearly half of Democrats and a majority of independents have little or no trust in the media?

 

[probinson]

Didn't the Republican speaker of the house give Jan 6 footage to Tucker and then Tucker cherry picked footage and created a false narrative of a peaceful tourist visit, where the security and police were waving people in and giving them guided tours?

The Republican Senators almost all voted against convicting Trump of high crimes and misdameanors giving the public the false impression that Trump was innocent. You have many Republicans going to the media, denying the 2020 election results, etc

OK. That may explain why Republicans distrust the media. But do you think that's why 71% of independents and 42% of Democrats have little or no trust in the media?