NEWS AND OPINION:
Republican trust in the news media has plummeted since 2016 according to a series of Morning Consult polls which tracked public opinions of ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio over three years. When the opinion results of each news organizations are averaged, 69% of Democrats find them on the whole to be credible. That drops to 55% among Americans in general.
Among Republicans, only 44% now find the media credible.
“The New York Times and CNN, two of President Trump’s favorite rhetorical punching bags, have suffered the largest drops in credibility among Republicans,” researchers said.
In the months after the 2016 presidential election, most members of the Grand Old Party thought The New York Times (52%) and CNN (51%) had credibility, but those figures have dropped about 20 points since, with just 32% of Republicans now saying CNN and The Times are trustworthy, according to the survey.
MSNBC is down, too, from 48% to 31% among Republicans. Even The Wall Street Journal has taken a double-digit hit, from 64% to 50%. The study notes that Mr. Trump has tweeted about “fake news” over 400 times since he took office.
“The only media outlet to lose no credibility among Republicans was Fox News: Seven in 10 said the outlet is credible,” the researchers said.
THE MUELLER PRESS
The Department of Justice release of a redacted copy of the Mueller report on Thursday has been subject to interpretation by the press. A few comments and headlines from the last 24 hours:
“Thursday is the end of Holy Week, it’s the day before Good Friday, obviously. A lot of people are on spring break. Congress is on recess. They are putting this release as late as possible before Easter weekend when they might get the least amount of attention,” MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell said, shortly after the big news was revealed.
And the headlines:
“Impeachment should be a no-brainer, no matter what the Mueller report says” (from an op-ed in The Washington Post); “Could the release of the Mueller report change President Trump’s narrative?” (NPR); “This should, but won’t, shut a lot of people up: redacted Mueller report to drop on Thursday” (Instapundit); “Congressional offices stockpile whiskey, pizza for Mueller report reading binge” (Talking Points Memo); “Mueller report will dominate the week” (The Hill); “Alan Dershowitz: ’Obstruction’ section of Mueller report what I’m going to read first’” (Fox News); “Why Trump is suddenly so worried about the Mueller report” (Rolling Stone); “Behind the scenes: The White House prepares for Mueller week” (Axios); “Should William Barr recuse himself from Mueller report? Legal experts say attorney general’s ties to Russia are troubling” (Newsweek).
BLUE ON BLUE
And so it begins?
Instapundit columnist Glenn Reynolds has deemed the incident a “blue on blue” attack in the state capital of Albany, New York. It is one chronicled by The New York Times, which cites the altercation as an allegory for the shifting state of the Democratic Party.
“The closed-door meeting of the State Senate Democrats began with a discussion about social media use. But it quickly devolved into a shouting match, with two senators exchanging personal attacks before one stormed out of the room. The confrontation on Wednesday, confirmed by three people who witnessed the exchange, is the latest sign of the growing rift between the party’s established core and its newly empowered progressive wing,” writes Vivian Wang, who covers state politics for the news organization.
The noisy event took place between state Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, now in his ninth term, and state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who won a seat in the Bronx last year by defeating Jeffrey D. Klein, a longtime, powerful Democratic incumbent, in the primary.
“The skirmish highlighted the shifting dynamics in Albany, where Democrats have simultaneously cheered the new energy and reform spirit, and been leery of pushing it too far. A similar battle in Washington has captured national attention, as the Democratic leadership in Congress has sought to contain the outsider streak of new members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,” Ms. Wang noted, adding that the New York Senate leaders told the members to stay mum about the event.
“Ms. Biaggi had also attracted attention last month, when she and another new senator, Jessica Ramos of Queens, as well as Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou of Manhattan, held a news conference to excoriate Gov. Andrew Cuomo for holding a $25,000-a-couple fund-raiser,” Ms. Wang said.
OH, THE DRAMA
A Rasmussen Reports survey recently found that two-thirds of Americans believe that the news media is more interested in “creating controversies” about political candidates than covering their stand on issues and policy.
Fox News late night host Greg Gutfeld also believes this, so much so that he created a parody advertisement for the fictional “Damaging Reporting and Information Alliance” — otherwise known as DRAMA — a school to teach journalists how to inject noncontroversial headlines with drama — or anything which is against President Trump.
“Attention news professionals! Do the traditions of objective reporting bore you? Facts, facts, fact — who cares? How about caring about the profits which come with agenda-driven headlines?” an earnest announcer intones.
NAME THAT PLANET
Astronomers working from Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California, have identified the “largest unnamed world in our solar system” — a dwarf planet which is about 776 miles, in diameter in orbit with its own little moon beyond Neptune. Indeed, this world has no name, only a number, which is 2007 OR10. Now the trio of scientists need the public’s help, they say, to name it.
They offer three choices: Gonggong, Holle or Vili.
Gonggong is the name of a Chinese water god with red hair and a tail; Holle is a European winter goddess of fertility and rebirth and Vili is a Nordic deity, who with his brothers Odin and Ve, helped defeat the frost giant Ymir. Yes, you can vote. Find it all at 2007or10.name.
POLL DU JOUR
• 58% of people around the world say their country is “on the wrong track.”
• 34% say financial or political corruption are among the top worries in their country.
• 34% cite poverty and social inequality, 33% cite unemployment.
• 31% cite crime and violence, 24% healthcare, 17% taxes.
• 15% cite moral decline, 12% terrorism, 9% the rise of extremism.
Source: An IPSOS Public Affairs Poll of 20,019 adults in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the U.S. The poll was conducted Feb., 22-March 8 and released Friday.
• Kindly follow Jennifer Harper on Twitter @HarperBulletin
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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