Cal Thomas: The rise of new media

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, February 6th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Change is in the air for the news business. Here’s WORLD commentator Cal Thomas.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: According to recent polling from Gallup, Americans' trust in mass media has fallen to a record low. Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets in newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets.

CAL THOMAS: When White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced last week that the briefing room is now open to “new media” reporters, she was acknowledging the power and reach of these outlets…clearly demonstrated in the last election when President Trump made himself available to outlets that were ignored by the Kamala Harris campaign.

The “legacy media” are in decline and the new media are surging. Part of this has to do with evaporating trust in what many regard as biased coverage.

Longtime NBC news host Chuck Todd announced last week that he’s resigning after 18 years behind the desk. He cited the lack of trust as one of the reasons for leaving earlier than he’d planned…adding that the national media is ill suited to address the problem. But perhaps it’s not the industry’s fault. The former host of “Meet the Press” once said he would never have a guest on the program who didn’t believe in “climate change.” His liberal bias and unwillingness to question what he calls “settled science” may be one of the reasons Americans are distrustful of him, and the business.

Outrageous claims are another reason Americans distrust the legacy media. After last week’s plane crash. “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin blamed Trump and those who voted for him. These sorts of comments not only feed the anger of many anti-Trumpers, they do nothing to improve the credibility of the media, or increase their subscriptions, advertisers and ratings.

As reported by the conservative Newsbusters.com, “The leftist media began (the week) by attacking President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and dumping on his (inauguration) moment. They then proceeded to libel Trump and Elon Musk as a bunch of fascist Nazis, while tossing final bouquets to Joe Biden.”

The legacy media’s unwillingness to report on inconvenient stories has further eroded trust over the last few years. The coverup of the Biden family’s business dealings, his cognitive decline, plus the infamous Hunter Biden laptop all top the list of stories the “mainstream media” buried…while trying to undermine the emerging alternative new media outlets as conspiracy theorists or MAGA loyalists.

The fact is, the legacy media created the opportunity for new media to expand its influence…giving audiences a place to go in their disgust. So the question now is what will the old guard do?

During other cultural transitions of the past there were die-hards who tried to keep the future from happening. There were those who resisted the transition from horses to motor cars. There were some who thought the telephone was a fad and that man was not made to fly. Some Hollywood moguls believed…or at least hoped…TV wouldn’t last.

The one constant among resisters to change is that they are left behind when change comes. This is a continuing problem for much of the legacy media. Most seem incapable of self-reflection and have an ideological view that resembles “eat your vegetables because they are good for you.” Their attitude seems to be that consumers of news should swallow whatever they offer, whether they like it or not.

This doesn’t mean the media should avoid questioning the policies and pronouncements of President Trump or anyone in his administration. Quite the contrary. What it does mean is that their approach should not be one of “he can do no right” when so obviously giving those who agree with them a pass. It also means when Trump and other Republicans succeed, that success should be acknowledged, instead of ignoring and moving on to new rounds of cynical questioning.

It may be too late for legacy media to redeem itself given the leftist bent of many within that cocoon. If they go the way of previous outmoded and irrelevant things, they will have only themselves to blame.

A free press is essential to a strong America. The arrival of new media may be journalism’s life-line.

I’m Cal Thomas.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.