Legacy Media Faces Trust Crisis as Bias Erodes Credibility

Conservative commentator Simon Hankinson argues that mainstream media outlets like The Washington Post have lost public trust due to overt progressive bias, fueling their decline. Hankinson, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, highlights how the media’s slanted reporting distorts critical debates, particularly on immigration, crime, and homelessness.
In his book The Ten Woke Commandments, Hankinson outlines nine categories of media bias, citing The Washington Post as a prime example. He points to the Post’s coverage of the 2024 Southport murders, where the paper failed to provide key context about the suspect’s background, despite its relevance to the UK’s immigration debate. Similarly, the Post’s reporting on former President Donald Trump’s efforts to address homelessness in Washington, D.C., omitted voices supportive of his policies, instead focusing on critics and using euphemisms like “people experiencing homelessness.”
Hankinson also criticizes the Post’s handling of crime statistics, cherry-picking quotes and omitting evidence that could challenge progressive narratives. He notes that The Washington Post’s progressive tilt alienates both conservative and moderate readers, as seen in the departure of former fact-checker Glenn Kessler, who suggested the outlet has little incentive to attract broader audiences.
As younger readers increasingly turn to alternative news sources for unbiased reporting, legacy media risk becoming irrelevant. Hankinson warns that outlets like the Post will struggle to retain readers unless they address their systemic bias, a challenge that appears unlikely to be met.

Published: 8/19/2025