I really don't think most Americans believe the press folks are idiots. I believe they KNOW they are idiots!
We didn't know JFK was a horny hound. We didn't know Walter Cronkite was a flaming liberal, but that's the small stuff. The smug and arrogant MSM has total disdain for people outside their realm. And why not? For decades they were allowed to keep their secrets, pick and choose the stories which furthered their own agendas, and only told us what they wanted us to know.