A lot of people believe the news today feels more like opinion that straight facts, and research actually backs that up. The RAND Corporation talks about this idea called “truth decay”, which basically means facts and options are starting to blur together in the media. The study points out how news outlets now mix more commentary and emotional takes into their reporting instead of just presenting information. According to RAND, this shift has made people argue more about what’s true and what’s not, and it’s also lowered trust in the media overall. So while not every outlet is biased, it’s clear that factual and neutral reporting is becoming harder to find.
This connects to how people feel about the news in general. A Gallup poll found that only 28% of Americans say they trust media to report news fairly and accurately. I would say that number says a lot about how skeptical people have become. Interestingly smaller news outlets tend to be trusted more than big national ones and that is probably because they stick to community stories and less option heavy content. So while it might be an exaggeration to say mainstream media never report facts, there is definitely truth behind the claim that opinions now dominate how stories get told.
