In the sweltering days of summer 2020, as Donald Trump contemplated a second term, his aides engaged in a quiet conversation with members of the nascent digital media about a daring idea.

The aim was to bypass the traditional news media that monopolized the media. White House Correspondents’ Association In the White House press room, he laid out “conventional wisdom” such as the fake Russia collusion narrative.

Instead, aides wanted to establish a new press room in the Old Executive Office Building, where new media independent of the group that considers the old press could get briefings, access the president, and thrive.

If there was one paradox to that literary discontent, it was how the public might react to such an idea.

Four years, four indictments, two assassination attempts, an impeachment based on January 6, and a heavy dose of bogus and biased news that followed, it seems that the American voting public has been clamoring for such a change.

Especially when there’s a steady stream of suppressed stories, like Joe Biden’s mental acuity early in the election or concerns about the Hunter Biden laptop.

“There was a time in my lifetime, in your lifetime, when reporters took pride in telling the stories and being the first to give information to their listeners,” said Rep. Glen Grothman, R-Wis. Just News On Monday. “That’s not what happened. The reporter’s goal now seems to be to suppress stories. And, you know, our country can’t keep doing this.”

The congressman, whose state is a fierce battleground in this election, said he sensed from the campaign trail that ordinary Americans felt the same way.

“I attended two Donald Trump rallies last week. Grothman stated that the sentence that received the most applause was Donald Trump calling out fake news, that is, the mainstream media. “If this wasn’t true when I was a kid, the mainstream media should care what people think about it. Maybe they don’t care.

Surveys confirm lack of trust in media

A. Gallup Poll released last month A record low of just 31% of voters said they had “a great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in the media to report news “fully, accurately and fairly,” while a larger 36% said they had no trust in traditional media . Newspapers, TV and radio broadcasts. Another third said they had “not much trust” in professional media. Gallup noted that a trend of increasingly unpopular media has been occurring in the years dating back to the beginning of the Trump era, if not before.

The 2024 elections gave traditional media reporters a chance to reverse the collapse. Instead they coverage doubled i.e. anti-Trump (85% according to Media Research Center) and is so distorted and inaccurate that it further worsens public sentiment.

It pegs “fact-checked” candidates with false information. Headlines, town halls, and stories revealed a clear bias against Democrats and Republicans. And reporters made one of the biggest twists in American election history when, after months of insisting that President Biden was not mentally retarded, they were finally forced to admit that Old Joe was old, forgetful, and confused after the disastrous debate in June. Embers.

Documents unsealed by Congress last year also showed that media censorship of Hunter Biden’s laptop story in late 2020 was based on misinformation and an influence campaign directly linked to Joe Biden’s campaign advisers who assembled puppet “intelligence experts.” NewsGuard General Hayden will go along with this ruse without apology. And the rest of the legacy media went along without examining such alarm bells.

In other words, the October 2020 surprise turned out to be so bogus that it likely left voters immune to another “surprise” four years into this election cycle.

Perhaps most importantly, pollsters say there is some evidence that voters are moving beyond legacy media into a new era of data and narrative consumption that places less emphasis on traditional reporters.

“I think in terms of legacy media we can look back and say they lost the narrative in this election,” said veteran pollster Scott Rasmussen. Just News. “You know, for most of my life…there was a sense that a few networks really dominated, a few media outlets really dominated the news, and that doesn’t happen anymore.

preaching to the choir

“New York Times “They can say whatever they want, and no matter what readers agree with, they don’t have the ability to influence and control the narrative,” he added. “And I think that’s going to be the end result for the media in general. There’s very little trust in that right now.”

News media red flags have emerged in two famous newsrooms in recent days; here reporters threw tantrums when their owners or bosses wouldn’t let them shape the narrative.

At first it was Washington Post The place where America’s famous Watergate scandal was unmasked has turned into a place where reporters revolted en masse To their decision not to support Kamala Harris, or any candidate of their choice for that matter.

Although the tantrum cost the newspaper 250,000 subscribers, it did not affect the newspaper’s owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. publish a column in one’s own newspaper This gave his soldiers a clear assessment of their unit. “Americans don’t trust the news media.” Bezos’ headline created excitement.

“What the president’s endorsements actually do is create the perception of bias,” Bezos wrote. “Perception of independence. Ending these is a principled decision and the right one.”

Here are the publishers of other major newspapers, as reporters objected to their belief that they were anointed “kingmakers”: USA Today And Los Angeles Times They passed similar resolutions to halt approvals.

Reporters kneeled down against extreme leftist figures

On: New York TimesA separate tantrum occurred during a newsroom meeting in which managing editor Joe Kahn refused to explain to his team of reporters that his newspaper wasn’t tough enough on Trump.

Most surprising, the journalists’ anger stemmed not from concerns voiced in Central America but from the far left of the Democratic Party. Transcript of the raucous newsroom meeting published by Semaphore on Monday.

“The criticism of the left (basically, ‘You’re not being forthcoming enough about what Trump has said and done) has been very loud in recent weeks,’ said newsroom staffer Jodi Kantor. “We wanted to ask you more directly: Is this criticism valid for you and how do you respond to it? do you interpret? New York TimesWhen is it useful?” he asked.

“No, frankly not,” Kahn replied. “I’m receiving all of this very strongly in my inbox and in many of the conversations I have. And I understand that it’s a criticism of us.” He continued: “This has nothing to do with responding to criticism from the left.”

The exchange poignantly captured the dynamics that many experts say are plaguing traditional media organizations: The current generation of reporters is being given more training in personal branding by journalism schools. duty to “seek and report the truth” and therefore it was captured by elites on the left. As a result, they have failed to mobilize independents and conservatives on issues that matter to them. Even conservatives with jobs that require dealing with the news media are tired of the dynamic.

“The media has lost a lot of credibility,” New York pollster John McLaughlin, whose clients include Trump, told J.News.

“But there are some people, you know, they’re looking for the truth and just the news. And there are a lot of other media outlets that are trying to come out, try to be fair, you know, that’s it. They want justice,” McLaughlin added. John Solomon Reports podcast.

The failure, or at least the perceived failure, to deliver this kind of fairness or open-mindedness may convince historians that the big loser of this election is the legacy news media. This could also encourage Trump – if he wins – to carry out the plan he laid out in the summer of 2020.