Slusher: A complexity in the conflict of media trust
Credibility is a concept that is always top of mind for newspapers, and some recent events have reinforced to me why that must be so.
The theme of trust is most commonly reflected in conversations about the public's growing tendency toward acquiring news from social media. Passing around misinformation has always been a byproduct of political and social discourse, but with the explosion of social media, it has acquired new proportions and power. There is more than simple irony in the contemporary notion of news "going viral," spreading like a virus on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any of many other social media platforms, with consequences that can be downright unhealthy.
We in newspapers like to think that, although not entirely the antidote for this condition, we play some part in the prescription. But a conversation this week with some journalists from Ukraine emphasized some of the complexities of the issue.
The journalists, representing television, print and social media agencies, described a media environment in their troubled home country where the issue of trust centers not on the platform but the source supporting it. In the midst of massive social upheaval following the ouster of former President Viktor Yanukovych and the invasion by Russia of the Crimean peninsula, Ukrainians find themselves with essentially three options for getting information. The two standard sources are state-run media and agencies owned by wealthy "oligarchs," who manage media empires to promote personal political agendas and extend their power.
Neither of those sources, the journalists said, gets much trust from the public. Instead, people feel forced to rely on independent alternatives, and their hopes lie in the faith they put in the motives of those agencies or individuals.
Compared against those conditions, the conflict in America between objective traditional media and the online cacophony can seem mild. But it pivots on the same source - trust. Interestingly, and importantly, Americans, even emerging citizens, are still finding that their trust is well placed in newspapers.
In a recent column, Newspaper Association of America CEO Caroline H. Little cites studies suggesting that young people - millennials ages 18 to 24 - are a generation that "actively seeks out news to become thoughtful, informed members of society."
Citing a Harris polling project, Little says millennials "care a lot more about reliability than speed." Of course, she notes, they consume most of their news digitally, but more and more they are turning to newspaper sites for information they can trust. They see and hear lots of information via Facebook, Twitter and other sites, but they confirm that through print and online newspapers.
Americans, thankfully, do not have to sort these questions out in the midst of a turbulent civil war. But, as events in Ferguson, New York City and elsewhere have shown, we still can be tested by civil strife. Our conversation with the Ukrainian journalists emphasized to me that having a diverse mix of informational alternatives is how we pass.
• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is an assistant managing editor at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on Twitter at @JimSlusher.