Do Media Outlets Care About Profits?

If so, why have they ignored so many major stories?

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.

Why don’t Americans trust mainstream media outlets anymore?

From sharp declines in viewership at CNN to Buzzfeed approaching penny stock territory to lay-offs coming to the Washington Post: The signs of failing media fortunes are everywhere, not just reflected in the many polls showing a precipitous drop in media trustworthiness scores.

Of course, conservatives have had their doubts about “unbiased” corporate media outlets for over a decade.

Many on the right lost faith in the mainstream media right around the time Sen. Mitt Romney’s innocuous “binders of women” comment was turned into a relentless campaign of media mockery.

Republicans knew perfectly well why it happened, and it’s still true today: “Barack Obama’s Politics 101: Ridiculing Republicans Works,” crowed The Nation on November 6, 2022.

Then there was the treatment Sarah Palin received. Mainstream media outlets took her candidacy as an opportunity to remind America of its long history of misogyny.

But now? In 2022, most conservatives no longer have any doubts about mainstream media credibility. Worse, at least for legacy media outlets from NPR to the New York Times, doubts about media credibility and impartiality have…