What can be done to restore trust in the American news media?

[Person Man]

Local and national, CBS, NBC, ABC, CW, CNN, yes, even MSNBC and Fox News, OAN, etc.

I'm talking local news too. A lot of people don't trust local news. A lot of people get their news from Facebook as well......

“By Facebook” you mean not from the fb feeds of the preceding organizations.

[Person Man]

I think this is an important question to consider.

Somehow the media manages to be the f**king worst at everything. They breathlessly cover lunatics like Trump and now MTG, giving them attention that they really shouldn't be getting. And it's more "mainstream" outlets that do this, not just Fox/Newsmax/OAN.

There's also the constant doom-mongering about everything COVID (spreading b******t about how "We DON'T kNOW iF THE vaCcINEs wORK" when they very clearly do to great effect, and it's not just Tucker who says this) and unfairness in reporting it. Contrast their worship of Cuomo with the demonization of DeSantis. Which governor has by far the higher per capita death rate?

I hate the media so much. They are enemy of the people. I don't know what the solution is, but they are destroying our country and must be stopped.

https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=719

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, Penalty on libelling the governmentThat if any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published, or shall knowingly and willingly assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.

If the media knowingly  lies  about something they definitely should be at least sued. Trump was half right about “loosening up the libel laws”. However, they have become so aggressive, people are already getting trials against them under the current laws. Look at what Dominion is doing to Fox. They are suing them over a sixth of their company. Maybe the laws don’t need to be changed and we just need to fight back.

[Person Man]

Why are they still in business if no one trusts them.

[Person Man]

Wait for a new medium with limited access to take over. Something that naturally invites over the Walter Cronkites before the Olbermannns and Hannitys and Carlsons...

Newspapers f&*ked over The Gilded Age and early Progressive Era, but then radio neutralized that...then TV took over when that became too spread out...for a blink of an eye, the internet was a backup.

There appears nothing on the horizon that’s going to do to internet what internet did to television.

[Person Man]

How do we fix it though? When the media lies or aids in fraud or materially does so by omission, they need to be held accountable in court. Fraud is not speech. You just need to find the right lawyer and judge.