The latest Gallup survey showed that a majority of Americans have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fairly and accurately.
Distrust in U.S. Media Edges Up to Record High
I wonder if we as journalists did a better job of explaining what we do and why we do it if these numbers would change.
Of course it doesn't help with "populist" political figures who warn their audiences that the media are the enemy. Such as one public event with a clearly marked press section when a certain popular figure warned her audience to be careful becuase "the media sneaked into our gathering." (We didn’t “sneak in”)
But it has long been my position that as communicators we journalists are terrible in communicating what we do.