Example 4,986 Why People Don’t Trust the Media

AZ Central pushing an agenda?

Today while reading an article in a local Phoenix media outlet, AZ Central, I came across the perfect example of why trust in the media is lower than ever.

Taylor Seely, a reporter covering Phoenix City Hall at AZ Central, wrote an article about Breaking Battlegrounds co-host Sam Stone, a candidate for Phoenix City Council. In the article, she mentioned how he is a host of the “podcast” Breaking Battlegrounds. Breaking Battlegrounds is a radio show that airs in Phoenix on AM960 as well as 6 other stations across the country. She continues to describe the show as

“…where primarily Republican guests discuss contentious and sometimes sensational topics like "the Secret Plan to Sabotage America," a conspiracy theory wherein "elitist" U.S. politicians — knowingly or in ignorance — are forcing Americans into subservience so that the Chinese Communist Party and the World Economic Forum can achieve global domination.”

What she clearly wanted to do was paint Sam as a far-right extremist and ignore the fact that on the same exact show on the same exact day, Breaking Battlegrounds had on a prominent Phoenix civil rights activists who also happens to be one of Sam Stone’s good friends. Either the reporter or her editors chose to omit this jarring fact because it did not fit their narrative.  

Breaking Battlegrounds has had over 183 guests and 119 hour long episodes but AZ Central reporters chose to describe the show based on 1 guest who joined for 2 segments, a total of 20 minutes.

It’s no surprise the trust in media has collapsed to a historic low. According to a recent Gallup Poll, just 7% of Americans have "a great deal" of trust and confidence in the media, and 27% have "a fair amount." That’s not good news for media today!

It’s also not shocking, in the same Gallup Poll, they found a clear partisan divide amongst party affiliation and trust in media. 70% of Democrats, 14% of Republicans, 27% of independents trust the media.

Breaking Battlegrounds is a radio show which airs on 7 stations across the country with over 530,000 weekly listeners. Some past guests on the show include:

• Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

• Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez, Florida's first Hispanic female Lieutenant
  Governor

• Larry Elder

• Bill Scher

• Dennis Prager

• Mark Esper, 27^th Secretary of Defense

• U.S. Senator Mike Lee

• U.S. Senator James Lankford

• Richard Paul Evans, #1 Best Selling Christmas Book Author

• Erick Erickson

• Johnathon Johnson, CEO of Overstock

This list does not include the countless U.S. Representatives, local elected officials, reporters, opinion leaders, CEO’s, Washington Times and New York Times columnists, activists and non-profit organizations that have joined the show.

As media outlets continue to report in this fashion, it will only serve to continue to perpetuate distrust amongst the American people.  We need to return back to true unbiased journalism!