When Did the Fourth Estate Become a Fifth Column?

The role of the media—once hailed as the “Fourth Estate” of democracy—is increasingly suspected of partisanship.

Fewer and fewer believe journalism is trustworthy, as opposed to a neutral platform for competing truths. Many outlets today are seen as proxies for candidates or political parties, and even cheerlead at political fundraising extravaganzas.

Networks such as MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and CNN are commonly disparaged for swooning over liberal icons like Vice President Kamala Harris, while platforms such as Fox News, Newsmax, and even X owner Elon Musk are Donald Trump echo chambers.

Both sides have drunk the Kool-Aid. They have taken Friedrich Nietzsche to a new level: “There are no facts, only interpretations.”

Public trust in journalism has hit its nadir. Far too many journalists perceive manufactured news as a significant issue, and the majority are concerned about how biased coverage misinforms the public. Opinion and news are routinely blurred, especially in political affairs.

In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, partisan media coverage has amplified conflict rather than neutral information. The favored candidate is the White Knight, who disfavored the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Tiny differences over issues are magnified from fleas into elephants.

Journalism ends up being a centripetal force rather than a centrifugal one. Disinformation drives out truth.

COVID-19 pandemic studies have shown that even factually accurate, but biased, content can be more damaging than outright fake news. Articles that focus on statistical anomalies or misleading narratives around vaccines, even when factually true, contributed to vaccine skepticism far more than flagged misinformation, according to researchers from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Facts taken out of context are falsehoods.

Distrust of the Fourth Estate has also led to calls for greater accountability. Some call for upgraded fact-checking, others for licensing journalists. But those are panaceas. The permanent solution is to redraw clear lines between fact and opinion, and to call out false information for what it is.

The media has a yawning credibility gap that will prove ruinous unless corrected posthaste. Its First Amendment role as a check on government corruption and lawlessness will end. We will all be worse off, except those lusting for power.

To paraphrase “Pogo,” the Fourth Estate has met the enemy, and it is they.

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