How the media fulfil their role as information providers and watchdogs concern us all. Ideally, journalism ensures that citizens are informed about important issues that are necessary to make educated choices. At the same time, it is necessary to stress the fact that news is manufactured, meaning that the news we consume is the result of choices and selection processes. The preconditions for what become news and how it is produced is consequently in need of constant scrutiny and reflection. Media criticism, in other words, is a necessary dialogue concerning how journalism can improve (Wyatt 2007). However, media criticism can also take on less constructive forms, like for instance through scepticism, cynicism or hostility. Wyatt argues that “cynicism” typically claims that all news media are equally bad (2007). Similarly, Tsfati (2003) refers to “media scepticism” as “a subjective feeling of alienation and mistrust towards the mainstream news media”, which are perceived as biased and unfair. While criticism, then, is ideally considered a constructive and rational act that seeks to improve the status quo, cynicism is understood as an emotional judgement that seeks to create mistrust.
Figenschou, T.U. & Ihlebæk, K.A. (2019), Media Criticism from the Far-Right: Attacking from Many Angles, Journalism Practice, Vol 13, No 8
https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2019.1647112