Western journalists lose objectivity by focusing on trivialities

Forget Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya where US invasions and involvement have created a mess that the whole world has to cope with. Forget the National Security Agency's recently leaked software that is used to take over firewalls, akin to weapons of mass destruction going loose in the black market.

When Mike Flynn, retired US Army general, admitted last year the US military had a role to play in the creation of the Islamic State group, few US media outlets covered it seriously. Back in 2011, mainstream US media outlets, controlled by a few major corporations, chose to deliberately overlook the Occupy Wall Street protesters. However, the grassroots movement has turned into a powerful force and fuelled Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' campaign. Before bowing out to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic race, Sanders had raised the hopes of millions of Americans.

A Pew Center survey in July found that 60 percent of Americans are already worn out by the 2016 election coverage. Worse, most Americans say issues get little coverage because the media's focus is on candidates' comments and personal lives.

Some American journalists I talked with sighed that journalism in the US has lost objectivity. Many Americans feel the same, as various surveys show.

A Gallup poll in September last year showed Americans' trust in the media was at a historical low. Only four in 10 Americans say they have a "great deal" or "a fair amount" of trust in the mass media to report news fully, accurately and fairly. That ties with the historical lows on the issue in 2014 and 2012. Before 2004, a slight majority of Americans said they trusted the mass media, such as newspapers, TV and radio.

There is no doubt that American journalists today need to work hard to regain public trust. They could start by focusing on important issues, instead of speculating and sensationalizing something like the Hangzhou airport staircase episode.

The author is deputy editor of China Daily USA. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com