How did this happen? I am stun.

Jazz Shaw at Hot Air quotes the AP:

When it comes to the news media and the impact it's having on democracy and political polarization in the United States, Americans are likelier to say it's doing more harm than good.

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults say the news media is increasing political polarization in this country, and just under half say they have little to no trust in the media's ability to report the news fairly and accurately, according to a new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

The poll, released before World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, shows Americans have significant concerns about misinformation.

The press, which is totally a disinterested third-party observer and has no undisclosed direct financial interest at stake here, frets that people's disgust with the media may send the public to other sources of news besides the media.

That breakdown in trust may prompt many Americans to reject the mainstream news media, often in favor of social media and unreliable websites that spread misleading claims and that can become partisan echo chambers, leading to further polarization.

The press is the biggest, loudest source of disinformation and conspiracy theories in the world, and also is the biggest, nastiest, least-nuanced partisan echo chamber.

While a slim majority of Americans say they have some degree of confidence in the news media's ability to report the news fully and fairly, only 16% say they are very confident. Forty-five percent say they have little to no confidence at all.

...

Four in 10 say the press is doing more to hurt American democracy, while only about 2 in 10 say the press is doing more to protect it. An additional 4 in 10 say neither applies.

...

And more Republicans think the news is strongly influenced by the U.S. government and the political views of journalists.

Moar of those Conservative Conspiracy theories we need to censor!

Can anyone remember this story, and help me figure out how to search for it? Some commentator pointed out that the BBC and other big news organizations had formed a cartel, the point of which was to "fact-check" and "rate" competitor independent/conservative-tilting news sources. I think there was an open admission, an actual quote, from the cartel stating that the media was facing possible extinction and needed to take action to squash and libel its business competitors.