Trust Me, My Name’s Janus

Lots of fascinating entries on the subject, which is key to communication. But surely here is a classic case of where the media is trying to eat its cake, have it, while at the same time saying that the cake that that other media guy baked will make you hurl.

Media outlets say: Don’t trust politicians – they have their noses in the trough and their brains in their trousers. But trust us to tell you the truth about them. Better not trust experts – they are suborned by industry and have their heads in the clouds. But trust us to tell you the truth about them. Don’t trust medicine – those treatments might just have some horrendous side-effects. But trust us to tell you the truth about them. Oh, and whatever you do, don’t trust what other newspaper/broadcaster/blog is telling you because they give even idiots a bad name. You can read or hear the truth right here.

And at the end of all that, we turn around in astonishment to find that media consumers don’t trust the information they’re getting. That must be the other guy’s fault, surely?