Distrust of the Media

In response to “Trust in Media Is on Decline,” March 31, and “Distrustful Public Views Media as ‘Them’--Not ‘Us,’ ” April 1, by David Shaw:

I thought you missed a very important point. To me, the problem lies in the fact that across the board, media respect for their audience has declined. As the media have come to perceive their viewers and readers as less educated than they are, even shallow and stupid, they have changed their format to sell to that kind of viewer/reader. As a result, many newspapers have fallen victim to tabloid mentality as evidenced by the Gennifer Flower travesty, while television news has become increasingly like a soap opera.

It seems to me that the drop in respect for the news media has directly paralleled the media’s failure to perceive that their readers are a lot smarter than they think they are, and that they are really looking for hard information. Not until the media start respecting their audience, stop trying to attract the lowest common denominator, stop thinking that news and soap sales are linked, and start delivering real information again will they will see a change in the way they are respected and perceived. It’s not just a matter of people thinking the press is elite; the press thinks it is elite, and therein hangs the tale.

JOAN MEIJER-HIRSCHLAND

Los Angeles