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https://theconversation.com/journalisms-trust-problem-is-about-money-not-politics-230375>
"Journalism faces a credibility crisis. Only 32% of Americans report having “a
great deal” or “fair amount” of trust in news reporting – a historical low.
Journalists generally assume that their lack of credibility is a result of what
people believe to be reporters’ and editors’ political bias. So they believe
the key to improving public trust is to banish any traces of political bias
from their reporting.
That explains why newsroom leaders routinely advocate for maintaining
“objectivity” as a journalistic value and admonish journalists for sharing
their own opinions on social media.
The underlying assumption is straightforward: News organizations are struggling
to maintain public trust because journalists keep giving people reasons to
distrust the people who bring them the news. Newsroom managers appear to
believe that if the public perceives their journalists as politically neutral,
objectively minded reporters, they will be more likely to trust – and perhaps
even pay for – the journalism they produce.
Yet, a study I recently published with journalism scholars Seth Lewis and Brent
Cowley in
Journalism, a scholarly publication, suggests this path of distrust
stems from an entirely different problem.
Drawing on 34 Zoom-based interviews with adults representing a cross-section of
age, political leaning, socioeconomic status and gender, we found that people’s
distrust of journalism does not stem from fears of ideological brainwashing.
Instead, it stems from assumptions that the news industry as a whole values
profits above truth or public service.
The Americans we interviewed believe that news organizations report the news
inaccurately not because they want to persuade their audiences to support
specific political ideologies, candidates or causes, but rather because they
simply want to generate larger audiences — and therefore larger profits."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
