Independence Day debate shows journalism’s shrinking credibility

why news-gathering – On the 250th Independence Day, a conversation with journalist Charles Feldman’s SOS America highlights how intimidation, activist and opinion-driven media, billionaire owners, and cable news’s Washington focus have eroded trust—leaving many Americans to get ne

Happy 250th Independence Day. The day is meant for celebration, even when that freedom feels uneven—challenged and, for many, diminished in the era of Donald Trump.

For this Fourth of July, the larger concern isn’t just that journalism is under assault. It’s what happens when the institutions built to hold power accountable begin to hollow out—while a major part of the electorate stops believing they can.

In a deep conversation with journalist Charles Feldman. host of the podcast “SOS America. ” the discussion turned to the job journalism has to do right now. They talked about Donald Trump’s obsessive need for media attention. They also focused on what Feldman called Bari Weiss’s wrongheaded approach to what news consumers need—fact-based news gathering. And they weighed the cable-news retreat from national coverage. leaving viewers with anchors more at home in the soap opera of Washington. D.C.

The stakes are blunt: “We don’t have a democracy unless we also have a free press to hold power accountable.” But the free press, Feldman argued, is no longer trusted by a major segment of the electorate. Many people prefer to learn their news on TikTok.

There’s another force at work too—one that doesn’t wear a uniform. A culture of lying and distortion by public officials has become normalized. And while intimidation from Trump is significant, Feldman said the erosion doesn’t end there.

He pointed to the rise of activist journalism—reporting that aims to achieve an agenda rather than seek truth. He also said Americans can no longer trust the billionaire owners of major media institutions such as The Washington Post. Los Angeles Times and CBS News. The billionaire class that bought those organizations with commitments to safeguard civic life. Feldman said. has instead chosen to sacrifice journalistic principles for other business interests. Jeff Bezos and Patrick Soon-Siong were named directly.

Cable news, Feldman added, has long abandoned the hard work of covering the landscape of national and international news. The result, he said, is a kind of gravitational pull toward the White House and its surrounding cast. Feldman described the channels as “very comfortable. like MSN. staying close to Washington. putting the president and his cronies on television. ” adding that “You don’t get anything like a balanced view of what’s happening. from a news perspective. in the country.”.

As journalists have left legacy institutions, some have moved into independent byways such as Substack and YouTube channels. Feldman acknowledged that many of those outlets are “excellent and important” new access points for independent information. But he also warned that a political point of view can drive parts of that ecosystem—citing Joy-Ann Reid and Tucker Carlson as examples of voices that can pull information away from fact-based reporting.

He framed the shift as a trend: the slide from fact-based news gathering into opinion-based information. In the middle of that pull, Feldman pushed for something steadier—news organizations that continue to report facts.

He summarized the ideal on the podcast: “I don’t think our job in journalism is to hand people a pre-packaged opinion. It’s to lay out the facts and let them decide.”

That view, Feldman said, clashes with at least some prominent leadership inside mainstream media. He tied the point directly to Bari Weiss. CBS News Editor in Chief. who told her staff in January that the organization she runs is looking to set the news agenda and offer “scoops of ideas. Scoops of explanation.” Feldman said he had criticized that approach at the time—arguing it doesn’t help establish the foundation of information a free society needs.

Weiss. Feldman recounted. said she was interested in setting a news agenda—starting with an investigative piece on CBSNews.com and YouTube. then featuring it on the evening news that night. continuing with CBS’s morning show. and then bringing it onto “60 Minutes.” Feldman quoted Weiss’s rationale from the earlier remarks: “We create the wave and then we ride it.”.

Still, Feldman argued the country needs something larger than any single reporter. What the moment calls for, he said, are news institutions—big enough to gather facts about how government and commerce work, and to offer those findings to readers.

But he said that model now feels out of fashion.

In the conversation, Feldman put his personal concern into words. “Sometimes I feel like I’m a dying breed,” he told Charles. He said “TheWrap is very much founded on the principles of news gathering and fact based reporting. ” and described how he writes: “That’s how I personally write… I kind of feel like I’m losing that battle.”.

He continued, saying there are “fewer and fewer people who are vocal about the foundation of what we do as journalists,” and he laid out what he thinks that foundation should be—gathering facts and presenting them to readers so they can form their own opinions.

Then he delivered the line that framed the whole conversation’s urgency: “I’m seeing the trend…. I’m on a shrinking iceberg here.”

The conversation ends with a direct ask: “Please do listen to the conversation and share your thoughts in comments below.” Feldman said the country needs the debate over the role of media—and needs to commit to the principles that support cherished freedoms in the United States.

MISRYOUM entertainment news journalism Charles Feldman SOS America Donald Trump Bari Weiss CBS News Substack YouTube TikTok cable news The Washington Post Los Angeles Times Jeff Bezos Patrick Soon-Siong Tucker Carlson Joy-Ann Reid TheWrap