Media in the Trump Era: The Decline of Ace Reporting
THE ISSUE: Michael Goodwin’s column condemning once-respected news sources for biased reporting.
In his semi-sentimental obituary of The New York Times, Michael Goodwin duly notes that the only standard that so-called newspaper of record now maintains is the double standard (“Hard Times,” PostScript, July 2).
Indeed, during the scandal-ridden Obama presidency, the Times put its muckraking prowess into suspended animation. With Trump at the helm, the Gray Lady has suspended any semblance of moral credibility and has slid deep into the muck of “gotcha” journalism. Now it publishes all the fake news that’s fit to print. James Hyland Beechhurst
Goodwin’s column is the best, most objective and intelligent comment on the state of today’s mortally biased media that I’ve read.
Despite their protestations, big media are hopelessly leftist and statist.
What we need, in addition to Goodwin’s three wishes, is a change at the schools of journalism and a new generation of editorial and content leaders unafraid to expose both sides of an issue. Without these, we will watch the unwinding of the essential Fourth Estate. Richard Klitzberg Princeton, NJ
Goodwin says that journalists used to be respected. But in the age of Trump, fair reporting has gone out the window.
There is so much news now that is fake, biased or left out, it seems honest journalism happens in “cycles.” In 1787, Thomas Jefferson said, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
On the other hand, Jefferson also wrote in his letters: “As for what is not true, you will always find an abundance in the newspapers!” Yet he felt that a free press was the only hope of a democracy. Manny Martin Manhattan
Goodwin saying that the “media has broken down” is the honest truth. People no longer believe the media entertainment from the West and East coasts. Peter Kahlenberg Eden, NC
Goodwin said it so well, right up through his closing words, “Join the side you’re on.” We need more newsmen like him. Maureen Corry Rockaway Park