A new poll revealing that Americans overwhelming distrust the mainstream media was unveiled Monday, confirming the biased reporting over at the big three networks has become appallingly apparent to most people. Fox News contributor and Townhall editor Katie Pavlich was a guest along with Juan Williams on The O’Reilly Factor, where she explained how the media’s “agenda” on issues like Ferguson and the Clintons has played a huge part in why the public doesn’t trust the media anymore.
KATIE PAVLICH: Well there’s a lot of things driving it but first I would point out. People go to the media for factual information and a lot of the time the media gets it wrong. Especially in cases where the media is doing it with malice because they have an agenda to push. Ferguson is an example of that. They lose trust in the media and the other thing too, Bill is that we see anchors not disclosing their conflicts of interest, for example, George Stephanopoulos over the weekend interviewed Hillary Clinton with no mention that he worked in the Clinton white house. He is friends with the Clintons and that he happened to donate money to the Clinton Foundation. So, when people find that out, and believe they're being spoken to in an objective way and find out there’s something else going on. They lose trust. This has been going on for many, many years. I think now with social media, people can see that.
O’Reilly then argued that social media was part of the problem, but Pavlich had a different take, pointing out that “new media” has helped expose stories the networks refused to cover.
PAVLICH: I think the establishment media for decades had a monopoly on the types of information that people were allowed to do receive. And I think new media has actually been very helpful in calling them out for their bias and covering stories that no one else has been covering especially under the Obama administration.
Watch the video and read the full transcript below:
BILL O’REILLY: Unresolved problem segment tonight. You can trust the American media? Apparently not.
Recent survey by the media inside project funded by the associated press and other public affairs groups asked this question: As far as the people running the press are concerned, would you say you have a great deal of confidence? Only some confidence? Or hardly any confidence at all? 6%: a great deal of confidence in the media barrens, 52%: some. 41% hardly any.
Joining us from Irvine, California, Juan Williams and from Washington Katie Pavlich. What's driving the negativity toward the press barrens, Katie?
KATIE PAVLICH: Well there’s a lot of things driving it but first I would point out. People go to the media for factual information and a lot of the time the media gets it wrong. Especially in cases where the media is doing it with malice because they have an agenda to push. Ferguson is an example of that. They lose trust in the media and the other thing too, Bill is that we see anchors not disclosing their conflicts of interest, for example, George Stephanopoulos over the weekend interviewed Hillary Clinton with no mention that he worked in the Clinton white house. He is friends with the Clintons and that he happened to donate money to the Clinton Foundation. So, when people find that out, and believe they're being spoken to in an objective way and find out there’s something else going on. They lose trust. This has been going on for many, many years. I think now with social media, people can see that.
O’REILLY: But social media is part of the problem because there are no standards there, Juan. That, I think, is the crux of this poll. What I want to know who this 6% of Americans are who have overwhelming trust in the press barrons. I would like their names and addresses so can I send Watters out to talk to them. What do you think is driving the negativity, Juan?
JUAN WILLIAMS: One thing to say is people get their information from Facebook. They get their information from friends, from family. But they don't trust Facebook? I was really surprised to see in the poll, Something like only 12% trust Facebook.
This gets back to what Katie was talking about. People do value accuracy and they want know that you are giving them the latest information. They want to know that you have people on who talk in terms of expert analysis. But I got to tell you, the people who I think are strongly conservative Republicans who have the greatest distrust of American media and they are not talking about the "Wall Street journal." They are not talking about Fox News. They are not talking about Rush Limbaugh and talk radio. They're talking about ABC, NBC, CBS. The old goliath mainstream media.
O’REILLY: I say it's based more on deception. I don't think most Americans believe they're being told the truth, Katie. And they are not being told the truth. Because there is a lot of money to be made in ideological, national media. A lot of money on both sides. A lot of money to be made. And that's where a lot of this is coming from.
PAVLICH: Sure. And I think, too. People get very frustrated and distrustful of the media based on what the media does not cover. So, for example, when all those networks that you just mentioned refused to cover the Hillary Clinton email scandal or refused to ask her about the FBI investigation or refused to cover important things like the Planned Parenthood videos, they go, okay, clearly there is an agenda here. I'm not being fed information about important things that matter to me, therefore, I distrust these people who have telling me these are the issues that the American people should be focused on.
WILLIAMS: Katie, this is where I disagree with you. I think you make it out to be people are somehow being skewed or steered. People think the left-wing media and they think ABC, NBC and CBS is left-wing media. But when they come to someone like Bill O’Reilly. They trust Bill O'Reilly. Why do they trust bill O'Reilly? Because they know you. They have come to have a relationship and they assume that you are going to tell them the truth.
O’REILLY: Wait a minute. You make an interesting point. 15 on top. And we will be on top again this year. But, there are a lot of people who don't trust me because they don't watch. They take the garbage that's written by the rags, the internet.
WILLIAMS: Who attack you
O’REILLY: And then they somehow incorporate that into their thinking. But what I think is the essential problem now, is cyberspace. Is social media because there is absolutely no standards at all.
WILLIAMS: No gate keeper.
O’REILLY: And the Establishment media seeing the success over there has imitated that. Let's give indicate the last word. Go.
PAVLICH: I think the establishment media for decades had a monopoly on the types of information that people were allowed to do receive. And I think new media has actually been very helpful in calling them out for their bias and covering stories that no one else has been covering especially under the Obama administration.
