History is a record of the winners, but are journalists deciding who the winners are before election day? Earlier this year a Gallup poll found 39% of Americans have no trust in the media at all and another 29% have “not very much” trust.
A Rochester University study found biased headlines are increasing (most likely for clickbait). The most concerning poll of 2023 is from the Pew Research Center, which found 55% of journalists believe every side does not deserve equal coverage.
Pew’s poll explains why Americans lack trust in the media. There is one way outlets can change this in 2024: Don’t endorse a candidate for president. It’s not entirely uncommon, in October 2022, Alden Global Capital said their papers would not endorse candidates for President, Governor, and the Senate. Some of their outlets include the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, and the Orlando Sentinel.
Papers in 2016 were reluctant to endorse President Trump. According to the American Presidency Project, just two of the top 100 daily circulated newspapers endorsed him, and another 26 chose not to endorse a candidate. In 2020, the number rose to 44 outlets not endorsing a candidate.
Why would outlets benefit from not endorsing a candidate? Take The Wall Street Journal as an example. It is the most-read newspaper in the country and hasn’t endorsed a candidate since 1928. What a difference it makes to cover the candidates and present facts, allowing readers to come to their own conclusions.
But this trend becomes dubious with TV and digital-first outlets. We know MSNBC and HuffPost lean left and without saying, will ‘endorse’ President Biden. On the opposite side of the spectrum are outlets like The Washington Free Beacon and Newsmax which lean right. The latter’s programming already shows their support for President Trump. However, it’s more than just news outlets flooding our minds with political connotations.
In the 1970s, American TV became more political. Beloved shows like Maude, All in the Family, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show included political undertones. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not entirely a bad thing, but it’s extraordinarily different than the escapism TV of early boob-tube shows like I Dream of Jeannie, Green Acres, and Leave It to Beaver.
Reimagining reality political thrillers continues to be a hit. From The West Wing to House of Cards and even Netflix’s The Diplomat are “reenacting” what happens behind Congress’ closed doors. A 2022 Ipsos poll found “many Americans think TV shows about politics accurately reflect real life.”
Today, reality TV and politics have collided with characters like Lauren Boebert and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez taking away from the issues and instead calling attention to themselves. The 24-hour news media, of course, is enthralled because it fills time, but is this responsible? Pew found 78% of Americans believe there is not enough focus on the important issues facing the United States. Another 57% believe conflicts between Republicans and Democrats get too much attention.
High-minded journalists make sure both sides receive equal coverage. But many who claim to be journalists are deceitful and have implicit bias written into their scripts, (again the Pew poll, 55% of journalists believe every side does not deserve equal coverage). Should this equal coverage responsibility spread to network programmers as well?
Dallas Jenkins’ The Chosen didn’t make it on mainstream TV for 3 seasons, many believing it told a conservative story. However, its ratings are double the dime-a-dozen programming that comes before and after. The narrative TV show is based on a historical figure who has millions of followers across the world and not all of them are conservatives. If you really want to get technical, depending on which denomination of Christianity they belong to some of Jesus’ followers are quite liberal. This is why the series is so successful, it unifies what typically is used to divide people.
American’s lack trust in the media because for over 50 years the industry as a whole has not represented both sides of the country, progressive and conservative. More importantly, the media has little to no representation for the majority of the population who don’t identify with either agenda.
Not endorsing a candidate is a start to restore trust in the media but there is more work to be done. Ask if your programming is balanced in representing both conservative and progressive ideals. Recognize if you or your outlet has bias and say so. It’s completely normal for people to have bias. What’s not normal is to be pigeonholing your audience, reaching conclusions instead of supporting critical thinking like the news media should.
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
