What has the media to gain be being unfactual?

Americans who call themselves "Republicans" and their Congressional Representatives have a distrust for the media. Why is that?

The media, "the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet), regarded collectively, are corporations, which are owned by people, some of which are powerful executives with a political point of view.

By contrast or in conjunction, Journalism is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast.

There are standards for journalism professionals that apply to individuals working in the trade. The standards govern how information is gathered, verified and validated to ensure truthfulness.

To be certain, there are different perspectives and viewpoints about all subjects that will be debated among journalists and among the people about whom they are reporting.

Still, the standards apply to journalists and their professional obligations. When media owners intervene by imposing their political preference and spin, then the standards may be corrupted. Such corruption undermines the product and may cause the audience public to develop distrust.

When you see a headline such as the one below that Republicans distrust the media, that is problematic. Why? The Trump administration cannot differentiate facts from fiction and folklore. Donald Trump ignores facts and follows his beliefs and notions instead. He fails to vet and verify information before he acts.

That behavior, on the part of the President, puts Americans at much risk. The media is trying to help by informing Americans about the facts with evidence that supports the message. The President is advised to do the same.

"REPUBLICANS TRUST TRUMP MORE THAN THE MEDIA - HuffPollster, with Paige Lavender: “According to a new HuffPost/YouGov survey, 81 percent of Republicans think the media wants Trump to fail. Only 5 percent of Republicans said they trusted the media ‘a great deal’ to state facts fully and accurately, but 38 percent say they trust Trump and his administration to present facts fully and accurately. A December 2016 poll revealed similar numbers among Trump voters, 56 percent of whom said they’d believe Trump over a national media outlet reporting he’d said something untrue.” [HuffPost] 

What should the role of the media be? - The poll found that a majority of the public, 61 percent, thinks that the media should be neutral. But 36 percent of Republicans think that the media should want Trump to succeed. Just 5 percent think that it does want him to do so. Three-quarters of Republicans say they think media coverage of Trump has been too negative, and just 17 percent that it’s been either too positive or about right. Among all Americans, that number is 41 percent, with 14 percent calling the coverage too positive, and 27 percent saying it’s been about right." 

Huffington Post, Pollster email

Check the facts