How NPR went ‘Off the Rails’ to knee-jerk liberalism–according to a current top editor

I grew up thinking of journalism as a dogged, flawed, yet unmistakable search for the truth.

That may have been wrong, but at least people could (mostly) agree that the media provided a common set of core facts.

Well, that’s all vanished. The rise of social media, while generally a healthy thing, means anyone can post anything, true or false.

WHY TRUMP IS DEFERRING TO THE STATES, AFTER WEIGHING AN ABORTION BAN AT 15 WEEKS

The increasingly bitter and outrageous polarization in our politics and society brings unrelenting meanness to the discourse, each side demonizing the other as evil.

The growing embrace of conspiracy theories, no matter how ludicrous, poisons the dialogue.

People on all sides have sorted themselves into silos, seeking out only media outlets and commentators who reinforce what they already believe.
It’s an ugly picture, no question about it.

And then there’s Donald Trump.

He didn’t create the politics of division, but is a master practitioner. Trump told me he sometimes uses incendiary language to drive media coverage of his issues. So he creates some of his own bad press.

But look at what’s happened to my business. In 2015 and 2016, the press opposed Trump but didn’t think he could win. During his presidency, journalists increasingly denounced most of what he did.

And on Jan. 6, they blamed him for the Capitol riot– understandably, because he summoned his supporters to Washington after months of insisting the election had been stolen, which the press came to call the Big Lie.

But they figured he was washed up in politics. Except now he’s got the nomination and is leading Joe Biden in most swing-state polls, although the president has gained some ground in recent weeks.

WILL A SECOND-TERM TRUMP BE RADICAL,