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If you are having a conversation about a state of journalism, you should be a little depressed.
Since 2008, more than 250 local presses have been closed in Canada. The US lost a third of the newspapers it went to in 2005. But this is more than a failed business model. Only 31% of Americans say they trust the media. In Canada, that number is a little good, but only a little.
The problem isn’t just that people are losing faith in journalism. That means they are beginning to trust other, often more suspicious sources, such as the Tikt Qui influencer, Elon Musk’s X-Feed, and the Joe Rogan Experience.
The effects of this shift can be seen almost anywhere you see it. 15% of Americans believe that climate change is a hoax. 30% believe the 2020 election was stolen. 10% believes the earth is flat.
Much of this could be criticized on social media, crippling the business model of journalism and leading to the prosperity of misinformation online. But it’s not all about it. People like Jay Rosen have long argued that journalists themselves are at least partially responsible for the moment of truth we now find ourselves.
Rosen is a professor of journalism at NYU, where he has studied, criticized and actually shaped the press for nearly 40 years. He joined me at a notice meeting held in Montreal a few weeks ago, explaining how we reached this place and where we were going from here.
Note: I’ve recorded this interview before the Canadian election was called, so I won’t go into it here. However, over the next month, the integrity of our information ecosystem will face a huge amount of stress, and conversations like this will become more important than ever.
It was mentioned:
“Digital News Report Canada 2024 Data: Summary,” Colette Blinn, Sebastian Charlton, Remi Parisser, Florence Marquis.
“American News Influencers”, Garen Stockings, Laxuan Wang, Michael Lipka, Katerina Evamatza, Regina Widdy Jaya, Emirito Masik, Jacobreedke, Jacobreedke
Read more:
“The challenges of validating journalists in the digital age of society: A theme review,” Melinda Baharom, Akma Hayati Ahmad Gazali, Abdul Muati, Zamri Ahmad
“Making news worthy news: The integral role of creativity and verification in human information behavior to promote the creation of news stories,” Marisela Gutierrez Lopez, Stephen Markli, Andrew MacFarlane, Colin Polezza, Glenda Cooper, Misaoui Zone
“Trump Administration and the Media (2020)” by Leonard Downey Jr.’s committee to protect journalists.
