Bias, Bullshit and Lies: Audience Perspectives on Low Trust in the Media

"Rebuilding trust will a long-term process and will require the commitment of publishers, platforms, and consumers over many years....In many ways, we find audiences ahead of publishers and platforms in demanding change."

Even in a world where people increasingly get news from social media, the professional news media is still seen as largely to blame for low trust, according to this report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Published with the support of Google and the Digital News Initiative, the report examines the underlying reasons for trust and distrust in the news media (and in social media) across nine countries.

Working with YouGov, the Reuters Institute polled approximately 18,000 people (hailing from the United States (US), Germany, United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Spain, Denmark, Australia, France, and Greece) to gather qualitative data about people's trust in news and social media. After respondents were asked whether they agreed with statements like "the news media does a good job in helping me distinguish fact from fiction," they were invited to share their reasons in an open-ended text box. The authors of this report coded these 7,915 responses to categorise the issues and concerns that are fueling people's distrust.

Among those who do not trust the news media, the majority of open-end responses (67%) relate to bias, spin, and agendas. Basically, a significant proportion of the public feels that powerful people are using the media to push their own political or economic interests, rather than to represent ordinary readers or viewers. Trust in news is significantly higher among people above the age of 35 (42%) than those younger than 35 (34%) and people of low income (35%). The authors suggest that this difference emerges because wealthier, older people are more likely to be invested in the status quo, but also because trust is a product of "stories turning out to be accurate and fair again and again," which takes time to recognise. In many countries, particularly the US and UK, some media outlets are seen as taking sides, encouraging an increasingly polarised set of opinions. Others are criticised for not calling out lies, keeping information back, or creating a false equivalence of partisan opinions that are obscuring facts and understanding.

In talking about trust, people mention television brands more than any other type of media (e.g., print or online). TV is considered less open to manipulation than online media, because live pictures and reporters on the spot give consumers confidence that what they are seeing is true. But TV brands are also criticised in many countries for putting speed ahead of accuracy, favouring opinion over facts, and for pushing partisan agendas.

For those who do trust the news media (40% across the nine markets surveyed), a significant proportion feel that journalists do a good job in checking sources, verifying facts, and providing evidence to back up claims. There is more confidence in the professional integrity of journalists (and the transparency of their processes) in the US, Germany, and Denmark than in the UK, France, and Australia.

While social media has become a central source of news for many people, just 24% of respondents said that social media does a good job of helping them separate fact from fiction. This is true across age, gender, and income status. There is a sense from respondents that feeds are becoming polluted with inaccurate information, extreme agendas, and strong opinions, perhaps encouraged by social media algorithms. But people also blame other social media users for fuelling these stories by sharing without reading them. All that said, a substantial minority does trust social media for its broad range of views and authenticity. Some of these are people who distrust the mainstream media or complain about its biases and agendas. Others revel in a wide range of sources and feel confident in their ability to spot inaccurate or agenda-filled news. Thirty-three percent of those that do trust what they read on social media point to the inherent benefits of the social platforms, which make it easier to encounter a range of voices that together can often give a fuller picture of a story and reveal gaps in knowledge.

Based on these findings, the report argues that fixing the trust problem will require publishers, platforms, and readers to work together.

For instance, the news media needs to differentiate itself more from information that has not gone through the same professional checking processes. A shift away from digital advertising and toward more reader-supported business models could help news organisations focus less on click generation and more on deeper investigations that will help them build trust with readers. It argues that journalists and news publications should be far more open about their biases and clearer about distinguishing news from opinion and news. Greater diversity in newsrooms could also address a growing disconnect between journalists and the general population - particularly young and low-income groups.

In addition, the paper argues that technology platforms also need to face up to their responsibilities around low-quality news that is putting off a significant majority who worry about an increase in noise, disruptive agendas, and lack of checks. It suggests closer working with publishers, fact-checkers, and other content creators to better label different kinds of content. Platforms should also consider taking into account more signals about the quality and origin of content from publishers, improving the branding of trusted brands, and taking steps to reduce the speed with which extreme or disputed content can be spread through digital networks.

In concluding, the report notes that many respondents "are deeply sceptical about the news - mistrustful even - but they are also better informed and enjoy access to a much wider range of sources. Nobody in our open-ended responses said they wanted to go back to a world with a small number of sources. Perhaps falling trust is an inevitable consequence of the increased range and availability of news and the greater opportunities to participate. Perhaps we need to consider discounting some trust in favour of scepticism and a focus on news literacy."

Along those lines, as reported here, there are initiatives to improve the digital literacy of news consumers. The News Integrity Project, funded by Facebook, the Craig Newmark Foundation, and others, has a focus on news literacy. It works to build trust between newsrooms and the public, and to make public conversations more fruitful and less polarised. Early funded projects include more community involvement in investigative reporting, and better comments.