I don’t think this is true at all. I would guess 95% of what is in nytimes is true.

Are they always right and never have a political slant , of course not.

It is interesting to see that when nytimes do print something that is obviously false for political purposes it is usually leaving right not left. The most obvious example being the build up to the Iraq war.

I don't know why you're calling out the media specifically. Are the anonymous commentariat, politicians, and random youtubers somehow more reliablie?

I don't, but I do trust the web of media, once there are multiple corroborating reports of the same thing it is vastly more likely to be true.

Few people do this because the comforting lies you tell yourself fall away rather quickly.

Are you mixing up "it happens that the media is untrustworthy" with "nothing the media produces is trustworthy"? If so, may I suggest a logic course before venturing forward?