Mainstream news journalists believe they are more fair and objective than the public, but Pew finds the opposite: where 76% of U.S. adults agree that "Journalists should always strive to give every side equal coverage," just 44% of journalists do.
The younger and more progressive a journalist is, the more likely he or she is to agree that "Every side does not always deserve equal coverage."
Your suspicion that the journalists who frequently complain of "misinformation," or who have "disinfo" in their Twitter bio, are the ones most opposed to equal news coverage.
"Republicans, Americans with low levels of trust in news organizations more likely to say journalists should always strive to cover all sides equally"
Two-thirds of journalists think they're doing a good job "covering the most important stories of the day" whereas just 41% of the public does
Older journalists are much more concerned about the future of press freedom, and understandably so, given how censorious their younger colleagues are.
The gap in age and journalistic values is on display in yesterday's remarkable debunking of Russiagate by 78 year-old Jeff Gerth, a Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter formerly with the New York Times.
Gerth's explanation for why he wrote the debunking says it all:
"I’ve avoided opining in my more than 50 years as a reporter. This time, however, I felt obligated to weigh in. Why? Because I am worried about journalism’s declining credibility..."
As such, the weakening commitment by journalists to old-school standards of objectivity, fairness, and balance is direclty contributing to declining public trust in the news media, with Russiagate being a prime example in how the erosion of journalistic ethics undermines trust.
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