Chart of the Day: Republicans Don't Trust Anyone (Except Fox News)

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Public Policy Polling is out with their 3rd annual TV news trust poll. Among Republicans, as the chart on the right shows, the shape of the river is simple: they don't trust anyone except Fox News, who they adore. These numbers are spreads, with NBC, for example, garnering 17% trust vs. 69% distrust. Fox News, conversely, garners 73% trust vs. 17% distrust. Well, you say, maybe this just means that trust in the media is really low these days? Nope. Democrats and Independents may not trust Fox, but they do trust everyone else. The percentages vary, with more skepticism toward some outlets than others, but what non-Republicans don't do is simply dismiss television news en masse as a bunch of lying corporate shills. Paul Waldman explains:

While I was in the car yesterday I turned to a conservative talk radio station, which I recommend all liberals do from time to time. The host, whom I didn't recognize, brought up some innocuous piece of news reporting that appeared in the

Politico

. As you know if you care about these things, the Politico is a complicated media entity. On one hand, they employ a lot of reporters and they sometimes break interesting stories. On the other hand, they're almost a parody of the inside dope-obsessed Washington media, which finds the question of whether Eric Cantor's press secretary and John Boehner's press secretary are feuding far more compelling than, say, the question of what effects cuts in Medicaid would have on struggling Americans. But when this conservative talk show host mentioned the

Politico

, he found it necessary to refer to it as "the left-wing rag the Politico."

Here in Washington, almost no one in either party is crazy enough to think that the

Politico

is actually a left-wing rag, an ideologically-motivated news outlet whose purpose is to advance the liberal cause. And whether this talk show host's listeners know or care much about it in particular isn't my point. My point is this: If you are a consumer of conservative media, you get constant reminders — every day, multiple times a day — that you absolutely must not believe anything you hear or read in any news outlet that is not explicitly conservative.

Everybody — yes, everybody — is subject to confirmation bias. We all get the warm fuzzies when someone tells us something we want to hear, and we resist listening to people who tell us things we don't want to hear. But there's still a difference. As Paul says, "Conservatives and liberals are not equally prone to huddle within their self-reinforcing cocoons." Liberals don't immediately dismiss as a conspiracy everything they hear from the news media that doesn't fit their preconceived notions. They might downplay unwelcome news or even ignore it, but they're still willing to listen to it. Increasingly, conservatives simply aren't. They want to believe the world is a certain way, and they're just flatly not willing to countenance anything that might challenge those beliefs. This is not a healthy development for a modern democracy.

http://motherjones.c...except-fox-news

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by vicfarThe Liberal Media: a Thoroughly Green Magazine

Nov 08 '04

Pros: Liberal magazine with very balanced and insightful stories

Cons: Only bimonthly

Summary: If you want a view on reality that is complementary to what the “Big Media” are feeding you, Mother Jones is a great choice. I was unaware that this leftist publication has been circulating for 29 years. Based in San Francisco and published ...

by gypcpoetUmmmm....Mother Jones?

Jun 18 '00

Pros: straight news without corporate influence; leftist outlook on life and the world

Cons: well, if you are conservative, there's plenty, but in my opinion: NONE!

Summary: Nursery rhyme collector? Nun who worked in Calcutta? Someone we learned about in school?

Each of these "descriptions" is equally inaccurate...In fact, Mother Jones was a liberal activist who worked for women's rights and...

by pazrielaMojo!

Jun 30 '00

Pros: Great Reporting, Liberal Point of View, Cheap Subscriptions

Cons: Only Comes Out 6 Times Per Year

Summary: Mother Jones is a great resource for anyone interested in the dealings of companies other than Microsoft and for those people who actually care about the world in which we live. Each issue of Mother Jones features an article about corporate exploitation...

by anecdoterFor everything your newspaper does not write about

Sep 26 '00

Pros: Good, informative writing, low subscription price

Cons: only six times a year! Friends hardly ever give borrowed issues back

Summary: If you've ever been curious to find out what all that Agent Orange has been doing to people in Southeast Asia, or how the black churches across the country are dealing with the AIDS epidemic, then start reading this mag.

Mother Jones is...

by gaetanlionAn interesting liberal magazine covering current issues well.

Feb 20 '04

Pros: Very interesting liberal leaning perspective. Low price $18 for 6 issues per year.

Cons: Sometimes views can be too unbalanced to maintain credibility.

Summary: This is a very interesting magazine that plays an important role within the U.S. media as a serious magazine covering current issues from a liberal perspective. In between covers, you get a lot of information and opinions at a pretty low price. The ...

by garthuMuckraking journalism at its best

Apr 18 '00

Pros: Great politics

Cons: Too glossy and slick sometimes

Summary: This country has had a long history of socialist agitators and hell raisers though I didn't learn about any of them in the watered down c**p taught in school. Mother Jones magazine is named after one of the best, most fearless, dedicated, social justice...

by dbirchallWho Needs Tabloids?

Mar 13 '00

Pros: Hard-hitting, often amusing.

Cons: Makes me remember the world is screwed up.

Summary: Although I'm amused by the cover headlines in the check-out line, I think it'd be great if the supermarkets had Mother Jones up there along with the Enquirer, the Weekly World News, and all that stuff. The stories in Mother Jones are every bit as...

by resromineStories You Don't Often Hear

Jan 26 '00

Pros: Insightful, In-depth coverage, Stories not covered by other media establishements

Cons: Liberal Bias, Can be preachy occasionally

Summary: The best thing about Mother Jones is that the content is predominately original, and not to be found in other publications. There are stories given a great deal of attention in this magazine that never make it into the majority of national media...

by david.holmesNow, This is Liberal Media.

Oct 24 '99