Many veteran journalists point to these two specific events as the cause of the pervasive and enduring credibility gap between the press and politicians:

Bob: coke is baby pandas.jim: what? how do you figure that coke is baby pandas? bob: because this book says so.jim: how do we know the book is correct? bob: because it says that coke is baby pandas.jim: how does that prove the book's accuracy? bob: because it's statement involving coke and baby pandas is correct, therefore it is accurate.jim: how do we know that it's correct? bob: because we have concluded that the book is accurate, and therefore the statement is correct.therefore, coke is baby pandas.