by Amy Oliver Cooke, E&E Legal Senior Media Fellow
As Appearing in The Complete Colorado

Last fall, the media reached a new low. According to a Gallup poll, fewer than one-third of Americans expressed confidence in the fourth estate’s ability “to report the news fully, accurately and fairly,” the lowest since Gallup began asking in 1972.

There is no reason to believe confidence has improved since last fall considering how the media covered candidate Donald Trump, who defied activist reporters and media outlets that blatantly worked against him. Now that we have President Trump, some agenda-driven journalists are still doing it.6332701_G

One glaring example is the media’s hyper-reaction to the normal procedure of transferring control of EPA external communications from one administration to the next.

Headlines of “gag orders” and “blackouts” were based on a “memo” with no discernable author that was leaked by an anonymous source and caused a “false firestorm.” Sympathetic reporters followed up with other anonymous staffers and each other for confirmation.

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