Robert Gehrke (The Tribune, Aug. 5) concluded that Trump is a “partisan wedge” who has divided Utah. But it’s not Trump who has polarized America. The radical-right media has split our country, pulling a third of our citizens into an alternate reality built on “alternative facts.” No analyst can address polarization without mentioning two crucial words: Fox News.
Spend a week watching or reading Fox News. And then spend a week listening to NPR and reading The New York Times and The Washington Post (along with The Tribune, of course).
Fox News stokes the culture wars and whips up conservative anger while making money hand over fist. If that’s your news feed, you aren’t getting the facts.
The best of the “mainstream media” produces investigative journalism in the public interest. The goal, as journalist Carl Bernstein says, is to achieve the “best obtainable version of the truth.”
Fox News and its spin-offs tamper with truth and reject facts. These cynics manipulate America — successfully. Their take-no-prisoners agenda of conspiracy theories, racism, anti-science and distortion largely explains Trump’s persistent support.
Stephen Trimble
Salt Lake City