Big News is in the pocket of Big Pharma, don't you know? Only the little person who's being persecuted has the truth. Just ask Fox News.

Seems like there are a lot of people who believe only Fox News (which I don't think of as mainstream media, like I think of Huffington Post) is trustworthy on the conservative side. Regardless of side, I think decrying the mainstream media is largely expressing a desire for a news source that confirms preexisting assumptions.

I don't think the mainstream media is super trustworthy, but I think the bias is towards sensationalism rather than partisanship.

Seems like there are a lot of people who believe only Fox News

What's weird is that one of the people who's decrying mainstream media is very liberal. Very confusing.

I don't think the mainstream media is super trustworthy

Why is that? It's not something I've looked into at all, so I have no real knowledge base here.

I think the bias is towards sensationalism rather than partisanship.

I agree on that, for sure.

Some of my distrust of mainstream media derives from having to hear about the military being called out to oppose peaceful demonstrators in the Dakotas on facebook rather than it being plastered all over the news, given that it seems pretty noteworthy and sensational to me.

Why is that? It's not something I've looked into at all, so I have no real knowledge base here

Well, it's that bias towards sensationalism and conflict. There's a lot of presenting both sides of the issue as if they have equal merit when they don't. And sensationalism can completely distort reality. Look at the whole thing with HRC's e-mail server. When you dug into it, there's not really much there. Confidential documents were almost all sent over a separate secure system just like they would have if she used a state department server. Out of all the ones that weren't only like three were confidential at the time and those were mismarked. Even then, nothing was sent to people who didn't have clearance, and there was nothing that was a real threat to national security. But man, the media took the bait and turned into the only story about HRC.

I find local news pretty useless, except for specific issues. The tv news is heavy into "if it bleeds it leads," unless they can find a nice "child in peril" story. Mainstream media, to varying degrees, is beholden to their corporate masters. I am delighted Dan Rather has found the Internet.

I think the problem is many people don't want to engage their critical thinking skills and consume multiple media sources with a cautious mind. It's easier to reject MSM fully than have any nuance on the subject. See also: everything.

Mainstream media, to varying degrees, is beholden to their corporate masters.

This is true, but I'm not convinced that alternative news sources are any more reliable.

You're right, they have their own masters.