Chuck Todd thinks “the conservative echo chamber…the Roger Ailes-created echo chamber” is a big reason why mistrust in the media seems to be so prevalent in the U.S. in 2018.
Christian Broadcasting Network White House correspondent David Brody disagrees, and feels the American public has many reasons not to trust the mainstream media, not necessarily the echo chamber Todd was talking about.
This back-and-forth between Todd and Brody took place during yesterday’s Meet the Press panel discussion about whether or not the Democrats will push for impeachment hearings if they win back the House in November.
BRODY: Look, I think one of the best things going in Donald Trump‘s favor—we know this—is the mainstream media. I hate to say it. I know I’m sitting on a Meet the Press round table, but the truth of the matter is 62 percent think the media is biased. So in other words, if you look at the approval ratings of Donald Trump versus the approval rating of the media…
Brody’s stat is from a Gallup/Knight Foundation survey published in June 2018 that found 62 percent of Americans think the news they read, see or hear is biased.
The Meet the Press moderator pushed back, and while he didn’t cite Fox News by name, he did mention the network’s late founder and CEO.
TODD: The conservative echo chamber created that environment. It’s not– no. No. No. No. It has been a tactic and a tool of the Roger Ailes created echo chamber.
BRODY: Yeah
TODD: So let’s not pretend it’s not anything other than that.
BRODY:Well, hang on. Yes and no. Because remember, the independents are part of Donald Trump’s base. And I think that is very important. A lot of times we say, “Republicans are Donald Trump’s base.” Not really. They’re –
TODD: No, it’s a separate Trump – it’s a different version of the Republican party.
BRODY: But those independents also distrust media. This is not just Republicans. It’s many Americans across –
TODD: Oh, no. No. No. I take your point. I’m just saying it was a creation — it was a campaign tactic. It’s not based in much fact.
Not everyone was buying Todd’s comments:
Chuck Todd works at the same network as Brian Williams. https://t.co/MvKV63b95L
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) August 27, 2018
In addition to Gallup/Knight Foundation, Poynter Institute conducted a study in late July 2018 which found that 54 percent of its 2,000 respondents expressed “a great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in news media. That’s actually up 5 points compared with 49 percent in Poynter’s survey from eight months ago.
But even with the rise in trust that Poynter measured, attitudes are divided along partisan lines. For instance, Poynter found that 86 percent of Democrats now express confidence in news media, 12 percentage points higher than the last Poynter survey in November 2017. Only 23 percent of Republicans trust news media overall, though that is four points up since the last survey.