In a Thursday interview with Lara Trump on her show The Right View for the Right Side Broadcasting Network, NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck highlighted the Media Research Center’s commitment to providing rigorous, evidence-based analysis of media coverage. He also talked about how the corporate media can regain the trust of the American people.
The past few weeks have been tumultuous, particularly with the tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk, which exposed stark media double standards. While some journalists, like Brian Stelter, called for dialogue over violence, others, including CBS’s John Dickerson and academic Heather Cox Richardson, downplayed or muddled the motives behind Kirk’s death, with some outlets bizarrely framing the suspect’s actions as driven by “love.”
This echoed past media malpractice, such as the “very fine people” hoax during President Trump’s first term, where his condemnation of neo-Nazis was omitted to paint a false narrative. Houck also highlighted the minimal coverage (7 minutes) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ revision exposing the Biden economy’s struggles, compared to 13.5 minutes for the initial jobs report. These examples underscore our message: the media’s selective reporting and bias by omission fuel division.
Despite the media’s self-inflicted trust crisis, 69% of Americans have little to no trust in them, per a Gallup poll, they resist self-reflection. But Houck said change is possible:
I think it's going to require a cultural revival that starts with all of us, but yes, does require the media because as much as we don't trust them, we need all of us to come together and to be able to see each other as human beings, but also fiercely debate. I think that's the lesson of Charlie Kirk, that Charlie Kirk did not compromise his principles as we might have had a problem with our party in the past, but we are, we show grace, we show humility, we see them as human beings, and we listen to them. But then we provide the truth. We speak the truth.
Watch the full video podcast here.
