Gallup polls did a survey and found out that Americans do not trust the media. There was a spin on the results of course (which confirmed the survey in many ways) and Republicans and Independents were the least trusting respondents. Gee you think? Gallup discusses their findings in detail (and blames the GOP of course) here

The divisive presidential election this year may be corroding Americans’ trust and confidence in the media, particularly among Republicans who may believe the “mainstream media” are too hyperfocused on every controversial statement or policy proposal from Trump while devoting far less attention to controversies surrounding the Clinton campaign. However, the slide in media trust has been happening for the past decade. Before 2004, it was common for a majority of Americans to profess at least some trust in the mass media, but since then, less than half of Americans feel that way. Now, only about a third of the U.S. has any trust in the Fourth Estate, a stunning development for an institution designed to inform the public.

Or it could be the media coverage of Hillary?  Perhaps the media and the 2012 Romney campaign and all local and state elections where the bias was clear and obvious, right? is the issue that people are depending on multiple sources for news and information? Or did the bloggers do it in the study with an iron wrench? Oops. Game of Clue. Yes Gallup blames the bloggers.

With the explosion of the mass media in recent years, especially the prevalence of blogs, vlogs and social media, perhaps Americans decry lower standards for journalism. When opinion-driven writing becomes something like the norm, Americans may be wary of placing trust on the work of media institutions that have less rigorous reporting criteria than in the past. On the other hand, as blogs and social media “mature,” they may improve in the American public’s eyes. This could, in turn, elevate Americans’ trust and confidence in the mass media as a whole.

Mature means act like the mainstream media who acts like the supermarket tabloids? No thanks. The chart for said survey is interesting.

So I went looking for circulation numbers. The media and more importantly their advertisers use this data to show health and buy ads. And no shock for anyone who had a print subscription to their local paper: the numbers have been tanking for years. Because people are getting their news online or from those immature blogs and from social media. This long term trend at best is continually shrinking revenue and circulation. Which results in consolidation or closing of newspaper offices.

Media response

From the New York Times (the mature form of media?) I found this:

One day many decades hence, when your grandchildren ask you, “Grandma, what was a newspaper?” you can direct them back to Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016. Because it may well go down as the day the American newspaper as we’ve known it moved out of intensive care and into the palliative wing on its way to the Great Beyond.

Is anyone surprised? Online media has been overtaking the dinosaurs and is frank about its biases and stuff. And people like that.

The Newspaper Association of America, the trade group that has represented the interests of major newspaper publishers in one form or another since 1887, is going to drop from its name the very word that defined it: “Newspaper.”

The group will be known as the News Media Alliance.

Gallup should have had this information right? The Times continues to harp:

Know-nothing press haters may say that news organizations are going out of business because the public is shunning them, but that’s not the case at all. Through online exposure, newspapers are reaching more people than ever. The problem is how they make money. Circulation for physical newspapers is declining, and so is print advertising; digital ads remain far less profitable. The trick is finding a way to make up the lost revenue.

Ummmmm no. You are not. People are not subscribing online or in print cupcake. This is a long time decline kids. John Oliver discusses this.