A Poynter survey showed that the public has become more trustful of the media since Trump became president but that partisan divisions persist with more Republicans than Democrats harboring negative feelings. The authors of the report said the role of the press is more crucial than ever, “Under these circumstances, journalists’ role in creating a shared understanding of reality across the political divide is more important than ever….” (The Poynter Institute, December 4, 2017)
In one of the most disturbing finds, the survey concluded that 44 percent of Americans believe that the media target Trump with fake news. Twenty-four percent said this occurs about half of the time, 14 percent most of the time and 6 percent all of the time. That would indicate that Trump’s campaign to pin false news on the media is bearing fruit albeit fruit of a rank nature. Equally disturbing is the finding that 25 percent favor limiting press freedom which would include government censorship of “biased” or “inaccurate” news. (Yahoo!, December 4, 2017, by L’Agence France-Presse)