Trump and the media – impossibly at odds?

OPINION: It is now well known that Trump hates the media and distrusts everything they do.  It is fair to say the US media don’t think much of Trump either!  The interesting aspect is that no US President had ever expressed such strong views about the media – traditionally US Presidents have been neutral on the subject –  and even more interestingly a surprising number of Americans agree with Trump.  The US media do not have a good reputation.

I think for the US there is a large grain of truth in the Trump attitude.  The American newspapers and TV media are aggressive and opinionated and well-known for taking a political stance on all sorts of issues.  I doubt if there is a single genuinely neutral mainstream newspaper or TV channel.  All of which makes life very difficult for Americans who like to follow the real news, and really gives Trump a licence to say what he likes – which of course he does.

I guess the interesting question is whether the Trump attitude is universal – does it apply everywhere?  I think to some extent it does.  Even the famously neutral BBC is not above siding with particular issues and slanting the news accordingly.

And it happens in New Zealand, although in fairness I think the problem in New Zealand is so often the lack of time and facilities to research news articles effectively.  And often articles from outside independents are published without much in the way of vetting.  New Zealand media outlets can take sides as well, sometimes for good reasons but sometimes not.

There are some subjects on which I feel well informed and I make a point of reading related articles – and I am surprised at how often I say to myself “that simply is not true or it shows incredible bias”.  Sometimes that can create a subject for me to write an article on as I often do!

So, do you forget about the newspapers for good information?

No fear!  It is important to know what people and media outlets are saying even if it is biased or you disagree.  Overseas you might try to get balance by reading several papers of different persuasions but that option is not really open here and doing that takes up a lot of time.

The trick is to not take what you read as the gospel truth unless you already know something about the subject and can apply some judgement.  The alternative, If the subject is interesting, is to Google it and see what the rest of the world is saying.  Whatever you do try to find some reliable corroboration so you end up being genuinely informed.

Written by Bas

This is another of Bas Walker’s posts on GrownUps.  Please look out for his articles, containing his Beachside Ponderings.