Journalism Dies in Lockstep | City Journal
The problem with their stated reasons is not that those reasons are false but rather that Bezos and Soon-Shiong have massively underdiagnosed the problem. Endorsements are a trivial part of the media s loss of credibility. The erosion of public trust derives from daily news coverage in which reporters uninhibitedly pass off their own political views as fact, editorializing with as much abandon as any editorial writer. It was under Bezos s tenure that the Washington Post dedicated itself to its anti-Trump Democracy Dies in Darkness crusade. It was under Soon-Shiong that the Los Angeles Times ran one white-privilege mea culpa after another during the George Floyd race riots.
If Bezos and Soon-Shiong really want to pursue their belated commitment to traditional journalism, they should read their papers through the eyes of someone who holds diametrically opposed political views. Would that person find the papers reporting fair to what he believes are relevant facts? The answer, if the owners are honest, would have to be no. Bezos, Soon-Shiong, and any other magnate hoping to restore media credibility will have to beat back the growing narcissism of their own employees, who believe that they have been called to lead the public away from the path of Trumpian evil and toward the heaven of inclusive equity.
Heather MacDonald, who is right as usual.