How much do you trust your government and media sources?

[einzelgaenger08]

Please list your country of citizenship and profession/status.

Then rate how much you trust the government's intention of serving YOUR interests.

Then list an available mainstream media source(s) and rate for objectivity.

The scale is from 1 to 5, with 1 being the poorest score and 5 being the best.

Finally, list the things government/media could do to improve the scores you give them.

[Autumn]

USA:
I've gotta say that I DON'T trust the government...at all.

[Anne]

This is a really complicated question with a really simple answer: Not very much! I suggest reading "Rich Media, Poor Democracy" by Robert Mc Chesney if this is a topic that interests you. Now for my take on it:
My country of citizenship is the United States (I have spent quite a bit of time studying social behavior and politics in other countries though.) I recently had a baby and stay home to care for her, but before that, I worked in Washington, D.C. in the press office of a Senator that shall remain unnamed. Needless to say I know how the game works. I wrote speeches, press releases, entertained reporters, etc.
Unfortunately, our government does very little to serve my interests: I am female, a mother and a middle-class citizen. My main concerns are the environment, social security, health care and my daughter's education. I think particularly our current administration has waved their middle finger at me and people like me. (Anyone who is not a multi-millionaire who owns large corporations)
Really the only way to get completely objective information is to watch C-SPAN 24/7 and decipher it all for yourself (5). Short of that (since it is rare that anyone can do that) I think that NPR (National Public Radio) does pretty well with keeping things objective(4.8). The AP (Associated Press) is thourough and you can see both sides. (4.8) Reuters is also a good source of information. (4.6) CBC reports somewhat accurately on U.S. News although since it is Canadian, you can't get everything you want to know from it. (4) If you are looking for a source on television, CNN (watch the entire story though, not just the headline news) certainly comes in at the top of objective television program sources though that is not saying much (3). MSNBC (1.5) has obvious bias, but nothing compared to FOX News, which is by far the most extreme and biased poor excuse for a station I have ever seen. They don't even try to hide their bias. You can watch it for a laugh, but don't expect to find any truth. I like to read "The Nation", which is also biased (2), but also humorous and closer to the truth than most people realize.
It is my opinion that what really needs to be done is for people to demand more from their government. I am dissappointed at how unmotivated most of the public is. I think it needs to start at election time. Recent campaign finance reform doesn't even begin to fix the problem that we are facing. I think it would be a good idea to do what is very popular in most other democratic countries which is to regulate campaign finance completely. Everyone has the same budget to work with. Everyone has the same amount of media air time. No mud-slinging. Air-time is ONLY for expressing proposed policy and speaking of onesself as a candidate. How can we be expected to vote intelligently, when it is all a horse and pony show. But from the point of view of the politicians how can it be anything but a horse and pony show when the populous won't properly educate itself. The problem is that there are few people in this country who are motivated by this type of candid campaigning. Really, we have to decide as a populous that we want to know the truth before we will receive it from politicians or the media.

[Native New Yorker]

REMEMBER WHAT FOX MULDER BELIEVED???
TRUST NO ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[edie s]

sad to say l trust the media over the government

[zinam]

Agree with Anne.