A polarized media environment, a digital news ecosystem rife with misinformation and a President who continually slanders the press has eroded journalists’ credibility as well as Americans’ trust in the news industry.
But don’t expect our “fake news” problem to get any better after the election, according to a recent report released by Chicago-based B2B communications agency Greentarget.
Greentarget’s report surveyed journalists to analyze their sentiments surrounding the fake news phenomenon as well as what effects it’s had on their profession. It found that while a quarter of the journos surveyed (25 percent) said they believe Trump has had an extremely negative impact on journalists’ credibility, less than half (46 percent) expressed optimism that the prospect of a new administration would improve the situation. Nearly the same number (43 percent) admitted a different president would make them feel no more or less optimistic about the future of their profession.
In fact, only a third (34 percent) said they think the fake news problem started under Donald Trump’s watch (most think it began before he was sworn in as President), even if a majority agree that the phenomenon has gotten worse in the last four years.
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| To what extent do you believe that “fake news” negatively impacts journalism? |
An overwhelming majority of respondents believe the fake news phenomenon has affected the news industry for the worse: 80 percent of journalists “strongly” believe fake news has negatively impacted their profession, while 14 percent said they believed that it has at least somewhat (only three percent were neutral and an additional three percent disagreed about fake news’ negative impact).
More than half of journalists (56 percent) additionally said they believe social media platforms such as Facebook are the single greatest enablers of fake news content.
Despite their pessimism, reporters believe the burden falls on fellow journalists (23 percent), editors (22 percent) or news councils and journalism organizations (19 percent) to call out fake news and identify misleading information. Only 12 percent think the government should take the reins in the fight against fake news.
Similarly, while more than a third of journalists polled (39 percent) said they support using the law to curb fake news, almost as many (35 percent) said they don’t support such anti-fake news laws. About a quarter of respondents (26 percent) said they remain indifferent on the matter.
Greentarget’s report, “Fake News 2020: Combatting Misinformation & Disinformation In a Polarized World,” surveyed more than 100 working journalists online between July and September. Half the journalists surveyed have worked in the profession for more than 20 years.
Trump Media & Technology Group today reported a $58.2M net loss on $4.1M in 2023 revenues, a disclosure that drove its stock price down 22.6 percent to $47.96.
Barry Pollack, an attorney at Wall Street’s Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler, has registered Julian Assange as a client with the Justice Dept. “out of an abundance of caution.”
Paramount Global to slash 800 jobs in what chief executive Bob Bakish calls part of an effort to “return the company to earnings growth"... Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman is exiting at the end of the month due to disagreements with chief executive Gus Wenner over the direction the magazine is taking... The New York Times broke the $1 billion barrier in annual revenue from digital subscriptions in 2023... Press Forward is investing more than $500 million to strengthen local newsrooms.
The majority of news articles are read within the first three days of publication, according to a recent report.
The Los Angeles Times gives pink slips to 115 people or 20 percent of its newsroom staff... TIME is also laying off about 30 employees, which is approximately 15 percent of its editorial staff... The Baltimore Banner, which was launched by Stewart Bainum in 2022 after he failed to buy the Baltimore Sun, added 500 subscribers per day in the three days following Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to purchase the Sun.
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