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early seven years after most media abandoned standards of fairness in a stampede to defeat Donald Trump, it is widely accepted that those outlets can not be trusted to deliver accurate reports. Rather than perform the journalists’ duty of informing the public of news, many of today’s reporters and editors concoct narratives about events that consistently align with the agenda of the Democratic Party.
This overt embrace of partisanship is a major factor in two developments roiling the nation. The first is a hardening of polarization that deeply divides voters and leaves government unable to agree on solutions to even basic problems.
The second is that mistrust of the media is proving contagious, with Americans losing faith in most institutions, including those in the private sector as well as government.
Even the military, which long stood above the political fray, suffers from declining public trust, adding to fears that America is headed toward a second civil war and is more vulnerable to foreign adversaries.
Understanding this moment of peril is essential to appreciating the importance of a new work about how the media veered off track in its war against Trump. The author, veteran investigative journalist Jeff Gerth, follows the admonition to show readers what happened instead of merely telling them.
