Summarised by Centrist
Traditional mainstream media outlets, particularly left-leaning ones, faced criticism for their coverage of Donald Trump’s recent US election victory.
Accusations of “biased opinions” and “twisted facts” have surfaced, especially against state-funded RNZ, which ran headlines like “The air was full of hate: Shane Te Pou reports from Donald Trump’s MSG rally” and “Trump suggests politician should face firing squad over foreign policy.”
According to The Daily Telegraph NZ (DTNZ), these narratives were more opinion than fact, fostering distrust among audiences already weary of “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” The argument is made that this election may signal the start of legacy media’s decline.
“RNZ is a state-funded news outlet. Because of the distinct public nature of its funding, it should be the epitome of journalistic balance. But 99% of its US election coverage was a disgraceful combination of lies, twisted facts and biased opinions mainly written by people who suffer from acute ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’. Taxpayers should not be funding this kind of partisan, unethical garbage,” notes DTNZ.
Many have turned to independent voices, with X (formerly Twitter) and podcasts gaining popularity. Hosts like Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman provide unfiltered discussions without “Simon Dallow and his teleprompter.”
DTNZ points to a narrow way out for legacy media: unbiased reporting “all of the time, without exception.”
Yet, the chances are slim as mainstream outlets ignored the lesson from COVID, when heavy-handed censorship led to a sharp decline in public trust.
