A nifty Pew survey about where Millennials get their news found that their most trusted sources for news were CNN (the only one trusted by more than half), followed by ABC, NBC, CBS, and the New York Times.
The bottom of the list? Sean Hannity, Breitbart, Glenn Beck, and, at the very bottom, Rush Limbaugh.
2 comments:
Very interesting. The sources who are trusted by at least one out of every three respondents are CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NY Times, Google, MSNBC, BBC, Fox, PBS and USA Today. All but two are electronic media (TV/radio/internet).
What does it say about Millenials that they trust the editors of GOOGLE News to decide for them what stories are important? The top 5 stories on GOOGLE News right now are about Trump’s refusal to “debate”, Senate Democrats playing politics with the Flint water crisis, a woman was arrested for attempting to help an escape from a California jail, a piece about the Challenger loss, a piece about the Zika virus, and a sonic boom over NJ that some thought was an earthquake. Only two of those are of any possible immediate concern to the United States and those come from the Washington Post (Trump and from a source trusted by only one in four respondents) and the New York Times (Flint). That Trump's failure to attend a debate is the number one story is alone a mystery. These so-called debates have been all about ratings and not much of substance has come from any candidate of either party. Bah!
I suppose it might be that Millenials do not have the intellectual stamina to read The Economist, one of the finest news sources in the world, or the Post, the Wall Street Journal or Politico. Politico and its mother, the Post, may not be to my liking politically, but they surely do have a finger on the pulse of American politics. (Disclosure: I read Politico religiously and am a subscriber to Mike Allen’s Playbook, without which, no morning is complete.)
What is also interesting was the sources which were in the same range of distrust as Sean Hannity (17): CNN (16), NBC and MSNBC (15, each), ABC (14), and CBS (13). My personal expectation is that CBS will go higher in distrust now that Bob Schiefer is no longer hosting Face The Nation. A true journalist, he was one of the last of the greats who would ask a question and then, after the guest answered the question he or she wanted to answer, would actually follow up with “Well, that’s fine, but what I asked was….” and keep it up.
Finally, I am amazed that so many even mentioned to comedy shows as sources of information. Showing my age, I suppose. They surely do not know what they missed in seeing Edward R. Murrow in action.
By the way, I agree whole-heartedly with the "scores" given to Limbaugh and Beck (and Colbert and the Daily Show ought to be there, too). None of them are news programs--they are as politically important as VEEP. Entertainment only.
All in all, a distressing survey. And one that does not speak well of the Millenial generation.
And, of course, over the weekend, Mike Allen announced that after the election, he will be leaving POLITICO. When will I learn: Never talk about a no-hitter or a perfect game until it's over. (Sigh)
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