On Monday's New Day on CNN, when asked by co-host Alisyn Camerota why the dominant media are so "unpopular," CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter only vaguely referred to some of the reason being "self-inflicted" before turning to putting much of the blame on "politicians" like President Donald Trump attacking the media as "fake news."
In fact, according Gallup polling, negative views by the public toward the media go back for quite some time, and have changed very little in the last couple of years.
During a discussion of President Donald's recent retweet of an edited video depicting him punching out a man with a CNN logo over the man's face, Camerota read a few tweets from former George W. Bush administration press secretary Ari Fleischer.
After reading the first two tweets that expressed disapproval of the video, the CNN host got to Fleischer's third tweet in which he was critical of the media: "Number three, 'The reason the President does it, it is because the press has made themselves so unpopular. It's a fight the President actually wins with much of the country.'"
Camerota then posed:
So that's the part that I want to ask you about, Brian, very quickly. Again, is there any soul-searching to be done from the press about what does he mean that we've made ourselves so unpopular? What are we doing that is making us have such low approval ratings with the public?
Stelter vaguely referred to journalists being partially to blame as he responded: "There has been soul-searching. There should be more soul-searching. Partly, these are self-inflicted wounds over the course of decades."
He then shifted the blame as he added: "But a lot of the reasons for distrust in the media has to do with politicians like President Trump telling people not to trust the media. We could do a better job telling our own story and explaining how this is real news, not fake news."
Not surprisingly, the CNN media analyst made no mention of the substantial liberal slant against conservatives in the dominant media.
He could have noted any number of common media transgressions like hyping stories that fit a preferred narrative while ignoring those that undermine it, or -- in drive-by fashion -- devoting much time to the possibility of scandal while giving little attention after a scandal turns out to be without merit.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, July 3, New Day on CNN:
6:43 a.m. ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Ari Fleischer -- former White House press secretary -- had some tweets that I just want to get your impression of. He said, "I never minded a good fight with the press. It's part of a good democracy, but this goes too far." Number two, "Some will think it's funny, but I find it in poor taste." Number three, "The reason the President does it, it is because the press has made themselves so unpopular. It's a fight the President actually wins with much of the country."
So that's the part that I want to ask you about, Brian, very quickly. Again, is there any soul-searching to be done from the press about what does he mean that we've made ourselves so unpopular? What are we doing that is making us have such low approval ratings with the public?
BRIAN STELTER: There has been soul-searching. There should be more soul-searching. Partly, these are self-inflicted wounds over the course of decades. But a lot of the reasons for distrust in the media has to do with politicians like President Trump telling people not to trust the media. We could do a better job telling our own story and explaining how this is real news, not fake news.
