On the heels of an embarrassing acknowledgement by ABC News that reporter Brian Ross got a story about President Donald Trump and Michael Flynn horribly wrong, a new poll by the Poynter Institute “found a sharp partisan divide on the media,” according to AFP and Yahoo News.
While the story tried to put a positive spin on the survey results, noting that “Americans’ overall trust in the news media has increased since the election of Donald Trump despite a rise in those who believe the president’s claims of “fake news,’” the numbers show more people still distrust the media.
Here’s what AFP reported:
“In the survey, 12 percent said they have a ‘great deal’ of trust and confidence and an additional 37 percent have a ‘fair amount.’ But 39 percent respondents had ‘not very much’ trust and 13 percent ‘none at all.’”
A simple math check shows that 52 percent don’t trust the media while 49 percent have confidence in the media. It’s a pretty even split, but the “nays” have it.
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The story quoted the report, which asserted, “Encouragingly, we find that the public supports the press, albeit weakly.” But that’s not what the math says.
Ross was suspended by ABC for for “incorrectly (reporting) Friday that during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump had directed Michael Flynn to make contact with Russian officials before the election,” the Washington Post noted. “Later that night, Ross read a ‘clarification’ on ‘ABC World News Tonight,’ saying Trump had actually asked Flynn to make contact with Russia after the election, when he was president-elect.”
Ross came under immediate fire from conservatives for the error, which some argued was part of a pattern for the veteran ABC reporter. President Trump, the Washington Post noted, came out swinging against ABC over “fake news,” and in this case, the criticism appears to be on solid ground.
The political left has been doggedly attacking Trump since before he took office. Presidential loser Hillary Clinton has even said she was part of “the resistance.” The dominant media has fallen under criticism from conservatives for having apparently abandoned all appearance of fairness toward Trump, and the Ross gaffe poured kerosene on that flame.
Another survey, by Rasmussen Reports, also has some bad news for the political left. On Monday, Rasmussen reported that 61 percent of likely U.S. voters “think it is important to secure the border against future illegal immigration before dealing with the Dreamers question, with 43% who say it is Very Important. Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree and don’t attach much importance to securing the border first, but that includes only 12% who say it’s Not At All Important.”
Immigration is a high priority among liberals, but following the verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial last week, illegal immigration and so-called “sanctuary cities” are under renewed scrutiny.
