TRUST ME-DIA

Why is trust in media in decline and what can be done about it?

CRISIS OF TRUST IN REALITY

In an age of information, why has trust in the media decreased to its lowest level ever? It’s no coincidence that Donald Trump became President in 2016, campaigning against “Fake News.” Trust in journalism was only at 32%. Today, only 7% of Americans say they have a “great deal” of confidence in newspapers, television, and radio reporting. As this distrust has grown, several major companies have felt the need to rebrand to dissociate from distrustful perceptions. Most recently, “Facebook” decided to become “Meta” amid scandals from whistleblowers reporting on their platform. So why has so much distrust grown among Americans towards the news?

LOCAL JOURNALISM ON LIFE SUPPORT

The decline in local news is harming America’s education about what’s happening around us. Newsroom employment fell 26%, and advertising revenue for local papers declined by 68% since 2008. There are 65 million Americans with one or fewer local newspapers.

Studies show that declines in local news correlate strongly with rises in corruption and decreased participation in a more polarized democracy. Private equity owns half of all local papers. Digital consolidation of news caused by Google and Facebook is a real problem. There’s also increasing news reader apathy. A poll by Pew Research Center shows 42% of Americans would “not much” or “not at all” miss their local paper if it were eliminated.

“Local news” isn’t covering much local news, and it’s a factor in reader apathy. A 2018 Duke university study showed that 17% of news was local and that just over 50% was actual hard news. Many news consumers will turn to better-funded and produced programming from national figures instead. Only 1/6th of local news is producing hard journalism because investigative journalism is expensive. Many benefits journalists produce are gained by non-paying customers, and in turn, we should consider increasing subsidization of their services.

LOCAL JOURNALISM SUSTAINABILITY ACT

The government needs to invest more into journalism and compensate these investigative journalists for the positive societal benefits they’re creating for society. One proposal to do this is H.R. 3940: “Local Journalism Sustainability Act.” The bill allows individual and business taxpayers to receive tax credits of up to $250 per year to support local newspaper subscriptions. The bill also allows local newspaper employers a payroll tax credit for journalist wages. Finally, the Local Journalism Sustainability Act also provides small businesses with tax credits to afford advertising in local papers. This bill is sponsored by Democratic representative Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-2). The bill is bipartisan, with 62 cosponsors in the House and 15 cosponsors for its companion bill in the Senate (S.2434). If you want to help local journalism, contact your congresspeople to tell them to support the “Local Journalism Sustainability Act.” Furthermore, tell your local representatives to create their local journalism programs and petition partners to provide funding at the state and federal levels.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD, SOCIAL MEDIA POLARIZES U.S.

“We have begun to live in a world, where we eat content, drink content and breathe content, without giving a single thought to its composition and what kind of impact it has upon our lives.” (Abhijit Naskar, The Constitution of The United Peoples of Earth)

Internet and social media increased the accessibility of retrieving and disseminating information. Nearly half of Americans get their news from social media, and 31% say they primarily get it from Facebook. The majority of Americans claim that it is harder today to be well-informed due to the rise in available information. The surge in misinformation has led to fewer people desiring to become journalists and news companies transitioning to subscription models. This has caused a decline in the supply of high-quality information.

How do we overcome this information overload? One method I believe to be most straightforward and impactful would require identity traceability for all social media users. This would prevent bot accounts from artificially boosting engagement, reduce repeat violators on platforms, and enable user accountability for information quality being spread.

ALL’S FAIR IN LOVE AND WAR, BUT NOT THE MEDIA

They say, “All is fair in love and war” (John Lyly), but is it all fair when trying to establish a collective reality? It’s time we work to restore fairness in broadcasting.

In 1949, the United States of America enacted a policy entitled “FCC Fairness Doctrine.” The policy required broadcasters to show issues of importance to the public and do so in an equitable, balanced, and honest manner. FCC desired this for “the public interest requires ample play for the free and fair competition of opposing views” (FCC Report on Editorializing 1949). We need to trust that publications acknowledge their biases and present alternative views on matters of opinion.

In 1989, the Fairness Doctrine was repealed due to concerns over its perceived limitations of free speech and utilization as a political weapon. Despite these perceived flaws, it is my opinion that the benefits outweighed them. The doctrine’s repeal led to the rise of increased ideological and polarizing news commentary through mediums like talk radio.

As the government considers incentivizing local journalism nonprofits, the organizations we entrust must be unbiased and fair. Any media organization that receives public money should have to be held accountable to the standards of the former Fairness Doctrine.

PROFITING ON OUTRAGE

The United States’ national news ecosystem is highly damaging compared to the rest of the world. The biggest reason for this negativity is that’s what we engage with. For example, Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor from Dartmouth University, conducted a study analyzing COVID-19 coverage from every major network. Their research found statistically significant results of the U.S. reporting more negative news on COVID-19 than other countries. Last year, National US COVID-19 media coverage was 87% negative compared to 51% of international news and 53% of U.S. regional journalists. The leading theory for why this trend exists is that U.S. consumers are demanding, and “If it bleeds, it leads.” The U.S. national media being for-profit creates pressure to give consumers the news they want even more than giving them what they need. Five companies (AT&T, Comcast, NewsCorp, ViacomCBS, and Disney) own roughly 90% of the media shares in America. All five of these companies are publicly traded and whose incentives are maximizing shareholder value. When news companies struggle to generate compelling outrage based on reality, is it any surprise some stretch the truth and viewers become more distrustful? One solution to addressing distrust in American reporting is to detach the service of gathering truth from the profit model, incentivizing further outraging Americans.

WE NEED TO BE HONEST ABOUT OUR INFORMATION ECOSYSTEM

We in the media are distrusted, and it’s time we deal with the root causes of why this distrust is rising. We must recognize the value of information and invest in it as a public good through the Local Journalism Sustainability act. We must regulate the social media platforms that lack proper accountability for misinformation spreading. We must restore fairness to reporting and facilitate discourse between segregated information silos. We must confront our urge to engage with outrage and distance ourselves from those profiting from manipulating our emotions. As individuals covering politics, we will continue to fight for these causes and I hope we’ll earn your trust.