Trust in the media and fact-based journalism is at a record low. Politicians are attacking the press, while audiences turn to alternative platforms, like entertainment podcasts and social media, for their news.
One way journalists can combat this issue is by treating it as a messaging problem, NPR TV critic Eric Deggans said Tuesday at a panel discussion during the annual meeting of Poynter’s National Advisory Board. (The entire discussion can be viewed on poynter.org).
“How do you fight propaganda? Maybe part of it is just calling it what it is and facing it as a messaging problem,” Deggans said. “The people who have advanced these false narratives are very astute about sensing the weaknesses in traditional media and attacking them.”
Politico senior managing editor Anita Kumar — who was on the panel with Deggans and Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network director Angie Drobnic Holan — pointed out that as a collective, media companies have the platform needed to counter false narratives about journalism: “We have huge platforms, all combined. We have a lot of information that we put out there.”
Attacks on the media have accelerated in recent weeks. Last month, technology giant Meta — which operates Facebook, Instagram and Threads — announced it was ending its eight-year partnership with American fact-checking organizations. Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has opened investigations into public broadcasters, kicked news outlets out of government office spaces and ended media contracts.
Journalism, along with institutions in general, have lost public trust, Kumar said. A 2024 Pew report found declines in public trust in the federal government, news and information sources, science and educational institutions. Disasters that might have brought people together in the past are now increasingly politicized. Kumar cited the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Los Angeles wildfires as examples.
Both Kumar and Deggans said that media outlets could be more transparent about their reporting decisions and processes. That transparency is especially important at a time when media outlets can no longer count on receiving the benefit of the doubt from the public, Deggans said.
Deggans acknowledged it can be difficult to push back against critics, especially when the pushback itself can draw more criticism. But failing to respond may lead to onlookers believing that the critics are right. It also lets down people who do support fact-based journalism.
“There are people who believe in traditional media who feel let down by us because we so often said, ‘We’re not going to have that fight,’ or ‘We’re not going to push back,’ or, ‘Oh, we’re going to be more respectful,’ or ‘We’re just going to put our heads down and do our work,’” Deggans said. “And they’re like, ‘No, defend facts!’ Because somebody’s got to do it.
“…The only way to maintain support amongst people who want to believe in us and want to support us is to get out there and earn it by fighting for it.”
