Why don’t US citizens trust professional journalists?

Abstract

In 2016, the United States elected a populist president who had no public service, legal or military experience. Donald J. Trump was a New York real estate developer, known for his involvement in the Miss Universe Pageant, World Wide Wrestling and the reality television show, The Apprentice. Although the news media covered his unorthodox campaign extensively, after the election, the new president turned on the press, repeatedly accusing it of publishing ‘fake news’ about him and his administration and going so far as to call the press ‘the enemy of the people’. Alarmed by these accusations, journalists are discovering that without civics education in the public schools, US citizens no longer understand the role a free press plays in a democracy.