If You Say in Public That You “Don’t Trust the Media” You Are a Special Kind of Stupid

Every once in awhile I run into a man at a party who brags that he carries his tire iron under the driver’s seat of his car (always a man) just in case of trouble. Knowing nothing else about this person than this one statement, I can safely assume that they are cowardly and a douchebag and cruel. Perhaps in other aspects of their life they are somewhat normal, but this statement gives them away. The same is true of people who claim to “not trust the media.” Particularly, if they say it in a way that is meant to come off as sage, and worldly. When a person says that, I, and many others, understand deep down that the speaker is a very special kind of stupid.

To say that you do not trust the media is to announce that you do not understand how journalism works and you do not trust yourself. You are saying out loud that you are unable to discern facts from lies because you are unaware of the tools people use to do just that.

A major tool of journalism is sourcing. This means you don’t actually have to trust anyone because the source of the information is included for anyone to check! Good journalism doesn’t claim to know what President Trump thinks, instead they tell you what he said, on what day, and where it's recorded and who heard it. We get to extrapolate what he thinks for ourselves but the fact that he said it, is literally beyond question because people who heard it and we can check with them.

In this same fashion, we build knowledge by showing where we find things we claim. Therefore you read sentences like, “According to (Expert, or reference) this is true.” The expert or reference is there so we can check. Essentially, to not trust the media is to not trust yourself.

One questionable aspect of modern journalism is the unnamed source. Here is where sometimes a little trust is involved. But be aware that any large-scale mainstream media outlet like the New York Times or ABC News division, if they use an anonymous source, be assured that several people at the outlet know the source and have fact-checked the information with other sources. Corroborating facts have been checked. The source may be lying, but even when that happens, the journalist is reporting the lie, not lying herself.

How can one tell if a news source is trustworthy? First, having an agenda does not mean they can’t be trusted. Many times you hear conservatives claim that you cannot trust a media source because someone or something is “liberal”. If a liberal says the grass is green must you doubt it? No, we live in a world largely measured by observable objective reality. If a person tells the truth, it is still the truth even if they are telling it to you for a reason. The Wall Street Journal is a conservative paper. They still have editorial standards and they still tell the truth. But you don’t have to believe me, or them. You can check because the stories are sourced. MSNBC has a political slant that is liberal. Okay, that comes into play when they decide which story to tell you, but not whether or not the story is factual. It is. Again, you can check. People do check. Lots of people!

Professional liars ask you to not trust anyone. This makes lying easier. It puts the wild speculation of a pundit on the same level as the careful and deliberate journalism of professionals.

Can you trust the media? You don’t have to! You can check. But more than a year ago I posted an op-ed called "The Media Lies Challenge," where I challenged readers to find one single untruth by any major city newspaper or network television news channel. No one has been able to do it yet.

And just so you’re aware, when you say stupid things, people notice.