One of my biggest pet peeves is when media figures make hyperbolic claims about the spread of misinformation online and suggest that journalists, misinfo watchdogs, and fact-checkers—i.e., the professional class to which the media figure belongs—should be more involved in shaping social media moderation policies. When this subject is broached, what often happens is that the media figure then goes on to say something that is itself false, which raises an obvious question: Why would we give such professionals power to police false information when they have proven just as susceptible to it?
MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle provided an almost perfect illustration of this phenomenon during an interview with The Office's Rainn Wilson on his podcast. Wilson asked Ruhle why so many people distrust the mainstream media, and she responded thus:
NEW: 'The Office' star Rainn Wilson claps back after MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle claims Elon Musk and Donald Trump are responsible for the public distrust of the mainstream media.
Wilson: "40% of Americans don't trust mainstream media. Why is that? How did we get here?"
Ruhle:… pic.twitter.com/v7ohnXBzxl
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 22, 2025
