That erosion is especially amplified on the right, where 92 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents "say that traditional news outlets knowingly report false or misleading stories at least sometimes," according to a 2018 poll conducted by Axios and Survey Monkey.
That sentiment also extends to independents and even a majority of Democrats, with 79 percent of the former and 53 percent of the latter saying they also believe traditional outlets knowingly report false or misleading stories at least sometimes. Which brings us to the latest fiasco regarding the Jussie Smollett story - a story too Hollywood to be true. Smollett appears to have wanted sympathy, a bigger profile and - most importantly - the perfect example that Trump supporters are violent racists. Here were two pro-Trump guys, Smollett said, ready to attack a gay, black man with bleach and a rope to use as a noose and at 2 a.m. with cameras everywhere during a polar vortex.
National media ran with the story as absolute fact despite the obvious questions. This was evidenced by the word "alleged" curiously missing from dozens of headlines and articles weeks after Smollett first made his claim.
Comment: The good news is there are still mainstream journalists with a sense of responsibility to accurately report news - the bad news is that they are a vanishing breed. See:
- Top journalism academic: 'The propaganda crisis surpasses every historic record'
- The corporate media continues to expose itself as a propaganda machine with every new horses**t narrative
More on the Smollett hoax: