And they wonder why no one trusts them anymore.

Once upon a time, people trusted the media. When someone was questioned about where they got some fact, just responding, “I heard it on the news,” was enough to silence criticism.

In fact, distrust of the media was something used in fiction to show that an individual was a little unhinged; if not a lot unhinged.

They don’t anymore. More and more people distrust the mainstream media, and the media seems to be at a loss for why. At least, I’d imagine they would be since they don’t seem to be addressing the problem, even as their viewership/readership plummets.

New media outlets tend to get a lot more traffic and have a lot more trust, but the mainstream media can’t understand why. For them, it’s something insidious and not the result of their own failures.

It started ages ago, but it ramped up during Trump’s first term when they decided it was their duty to make sure Trump was a one-term president. They stopped even pretending, and it just got worse.

This week, we had a couple of grand examples of it.

Let’s start with this one.

Now, that looks pretty clear-cut, doesn’t it? Tulsi Gabbard saying Trump and Putin are tight is kind of unambiguous.

Except, it’s BS. The AP got called on it, and then posted this:

That’s right. Gabbard wasn’t talking about Putin but Modi. They hoped they could get away with it, but they didn’t.

The story is now gone in that way, but the internet is forever.

But, in fairness, it’s not just the mainstream media that’s the problem. Even their new media allies engage in this, too.

The Daily Beast ran this on Monday:

The story comes from an upcoming book, apparently, which means legacy media at work, with The Daily Beast ginning up interest in it.

Now, we know that Trump has played fast and loose with marriage vows in the past, so this certainly sounds plausible. Except, it didn’t happen.

Well, it did, but not like they’re spinning it.

The congresswoman in question is Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who was pregnant, and Trump offered a bed for her to lie on if she needed it. It’s a nothing burger…

Ms. Luna’s response, even more of a hatchet to the face:

I seldom respond to nasty headlines because I don’t like giving trash credibility, however, being that there is allegedly a book coming out with me named and attacking the president, his marriage, our first lady, and frankly implying something distasteful about me, I am responding.

I was very pregnant and at the time experiencing pre-eclampsia symptoms, but was not diagnosed. As soon as President Donald Trump boarded the plane, being the gentleman and good person that he is, said if I did not feel well, I could use the back room. He did this in a respectful way and in front of my husband, of which we thanked him. He also assured me that they had a medical team on board in case anything happened and they were aware of how pregnant I was.

This was the most compassionate thing that could’ve been done at the time. I find it disgusting that the author fails to recognize that. A few weeks later, I was induced because I did have pre-eclampsia. The author of this book never reached out to me for comment. Which means that this book is likely going to be a hit piece. If people in POTUS orbit are talking to this author, they need to be cut off immediately. This is gross.

There’s nothing untoward here. Luna’s husband was even on the plane, which means he can verify that nothing salacious was going on.

It was just a case of telling someone they could lie down if they needed to, and then someone else stirring the pot for whatever reason.

They could have checked it, but they didn’t. They didn’t want to. If they had, they might have found out that it was a nothingburger and nobody wanted that.

These are just two stories out of many that we’ve seen that were grossly misreported as fact when they were so incorrect as to be laughable. These are, of course, the same media voices that scream out about misinformation on the regular, but their own misinformation is all good.

And they seem to forget that this all can be fact-checked by people who don’t share their agenda, that people like Luna can call them out on their journalistic malpractice—both The Daily Beast and the book’s writer and publisher—at the drop of a hate.

It’s weapons-grade stupid, and they can’t see it.

Now, I’m fine with them continuing to shoot themselves in the foot. I’m part of the new media and it only benefits me with them doing it.

During his first presidency, Trump used the phrase “fake news” an awful lot, but sometimes that was really just stories that weren’t framed particularly well or even accurately. This, however, is a whole new thing.

The fact that the media is doing nothing to correct it means trust in the media will continue to plummet. Those who maintain that trust will soon find themselves being the sputtering whack jobs that no one takes seriously due to their unhinged nature.

And honestly, that’s how it should be if the media doesn’t change its vile ways.

Since they won’t, well, I’ll be here, as will others, and we’ll be happy to call them out on everything.