The mainstream media is a trustworthy source regarding election fraud and Antifa's terrorist activities? And "Breitbart are a disgusting organization whose aim is misinformation"?
It's not so much that the main stream media outlets lie about facts. They misrepresent them because they have a bias and a specific opinion on matters that it's so obvious to anyone that isn't on the left. Which is why people flock to other sources such as Breitbart, which at the very least, spins and interprets the events/info with a right-leaning worldview.
The overarching problem is that journalism has become a forum of opinion rather than facts + helping readers understand complex topics by digesting it for them. And it's no wonder we're becoming polarized, because we pick the "opinion" we like, rather than being given the facts and going with it, regardless from which source we get it.
The left actually has the same criticisms of the mainstream media as the right does, though usually on other subjects. The media in the US has an extreme centrist position on most issues, leaning to the right on foreign policy and immigration (with no exceptions), but to the left on social issues (with notable exceptions such as Fox News).
I stand by my characterization of Breitbart though - they absolutely knowingly lie about facts. I would also add that you know that your political view is extreme far right when you start calling The Economist "left-leaning".
And I don't think that journalism, especially in the mainstream, has ever been more than an opinion & public relations (propaganda) piece. News organizations are usually owned by rich owners and financed by rich corporations through ads, and so can't stray too far from the mainstream capitalist right-wing/centrist view on most issues of consequence for their sponsors. It happens that lately, corporate America and the rich have generally become much more open on social issues, so you see that reflected in the press.
But you'll be hard pressed to find a mainstream journal or news organization that shares the left's more extreme beliefs on economic issues (e.g. pro unionization, shorter work week), and extremely hard pressed to find any news organization that is against armed support for Israel, that is against the coup attempt in Venezuela, that is against US support for Saudi Arabia, that is for US nuclear disarmament, that is against escalation of the conflict with Russia etc.
> I stand by my characterization of Breitbart though - they absolutely knowingly lie about facts.
I can agree, once I did my own research and found them misrepresenting facts; during the refugee crisis, a Breitbart headline said something along the lines of "x hundred thousand crimes committed by refugees in Germany". I looked at the source/googled the number and found the source government press release, it was the number of people entering the country without permit, of course that's against the (German) law, but a refugee has to per default do this to enter somewhere and claim refugee status (unless they're the kind of refugee that could get plane tickets to a destination country willing to issue them entry visas -- but surely no EU embassy thought "Ah here are some Syrians wanting to visit as tourists for a week, give them visas.").
Obviously the Breitbart article didn't mention this detail, leaving the details of the "crimes" committed to the imagination of their readers...
It's not so much that the main stream media outlets lie about facts. They misrepresent them because they have a bias and a specific opinion on matters that it's so obvious to anyone that isn't on the left. Which is why people flock to other sources such as Breitbart, which at the very least, spins and interprets the events/info with a right-leaning worldview.
The overarching problem is that journalism has become a forum of opinion rather than facts + helping readers understand complex topics by digesting it for them. And it's no wonder we're becoming polarized, because we pick the "opinion" we like, rather than being given the facts and going with it, regardless from which source we get it.