It recently struck me that the reason so many people love to hate journalists might be tied to the fact that they could be likened to individuals working in law enforcement.
Just in case you have not made the connection: One of the major tasks of the press is to police behavior of public officials and citizens in ways that promote fairness, equality and safety. Often, individuals end up in the news when they fall short of those standards. And, let’s face it: No one likes to have their dirty laundry aired in public.
But there is a certain irony connected to this analogy. The people who seem most likely to hate journalists for the work they do are the same ones most likely to support police officers, even when there is evidence that some of them are the bad actors whose behavior needs to be policed.
As one who has worked professionally as a journalist and now works to train students to become journalists, I have long marveled at how certain groups of people almost seem automatically inclined to distrust journalists. This pattern has been especially pronounced among White conservatives, and has only escalated since Donald Trump was elected president.
His incessant attacks on the news media should serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of a non-policed society, particularly as it pertains to politicians. Despite claims to the contrary, Trump is a politician, and there is ample evidence that he is not to be trusted without adequate policing.
His administration has become known for bashing the so-called “liberal media” while persistently promulgating “alternative facts,” which in street language are lies.
That is why the press must be encouraged to do what it has traditionally done, even if there is a legitimate argument to be made about the need to do it better. Sadly, that is not the narrative being scripted by many leading voices who would identify themselves as conservatives. But I know from firsthand experience that this is not a new pattern, even if Trump and his followers have made it more pronounced.
