There are a lot of research studies out there lately examining how the news audience gets their news in 2024, and you don’t need those numbers to know that people are using social media and the internet, and their use of traditional news media — radio, TV, newspapers, town crier – is steadily decreasing. That’s not, you know, news.
Things are not how they were when many of you began your careers in the news media, and it’s not just because of consolidation or cluelessness by those in charge 20 years ago. It was inevitable. New technology, more efficient technology, the world on a device that fits in your pocket, barriers to entry smashed into tiny pieces. Anyone and everyone can be “news media.”
We’ve seen how that plays out. Division, information of questionable provenance, lies passed off as truth, opinion passed off as fact, ethics out the window… and some very good reporting, all mashed together in addictive form. What’s true and what’s false is no longer universally accepted. Traditional media has been demonized by Donald Trump and is now being criticized by Democrats as well for normalizing Trumpist behavior and how they covered the Biden candidacy’s implosion. In a post-truth world, news is in the eye of the beholder.
Reading all the studies, I wonder if we’re looking at this the wrong way. The news media are hyper-critical of themselves, and for many, deservedly so, but the public just doesn’t want the news, at least the news as it used to be delivered. The audience wants its opinions validated; a lesson Fox News figured out years ago. They believe what they want to believe, and they don’t react well to anything that runs counter to those beliefs. You can produce absolutely bulletproof, accurate, important news, and the market for it ain’t what it used to be.
Great investigative reporting is more likely to be challenged and belittled by people who just don’t want to believe it; it was disheartening the other day when Julie K. Brown, the Miami Herald reporter who broke the Jeffrey Epstein scandal story and is pretty much the expert on that case, had randoms on X/Twitter dismissing her latest posts on the subject because, well, it wasn’t what they wanted to hear. Scientists are challenged by anonymous clowns with no credentials. People post rumors as fact on Facebook, and no amount of correction in the comments is enough for them.
What’s the answer? The business answer would be, of course, to give the people what they want, and if that’s a pile of clickbait and politically slanted garbage, so be it. That should send shivers down your spine, unless you’re already doing that kind of “product.” There’s another way. The missing element for most of what’s being presented as news today is trust. Confidence.
Even the New York Times and Washington Post have fallen into the trap of doing what they think the public wants – or, equally bad, access journalism that pulls punches to a comical extent — rather than reinforce their long-established positions as trusted, accurate reporting. It’s gotten bad enough that I keep asking myself why I’m even subscribing anymore. I can’t quite pull the trigger on cancellation, but there’s at least one or two stories every week that push me to the brink.
There used to be value in radio stations grabbing the “heritage news station” position in a market, the station that everyone in town knows to turn to in an emergency and for the best news coverage; today, most of those stations push their opinion programming and news is at best secondary. And you used to have dominant local TV news operations that had the same trust, but they’ve all devolved into features and weather reports.
Which leaves a huge void for being the go-to outlet, no matter which medium, for the unvarnished truth. The larger audience, by gravitating towards less reliable sources, may not want that, but that’s what’s missing, and someone could try establishing themselves as trustworthy and accurate. If the heritage outlets have abdicated that position, it’s there for the taking. Society is better when people are better informed, but if that’s not motivation enough for you, it’s a business opportunity, too. With all the Nazis and dimwits flooding social media, sponsors prefer to be placed next to respectable, well-regarded content. That’s what they mean by brand safety.
Be smarter than the competition. You can tell your grandchildren that when American society was falling apart, you were standing up for the truth. Or you can change the subject. It’s up to you.
Perry Michael Simon is a weekly news media columnist for Barrett Media. He previously served as VP and Editor/News-Talk-Sports/Podcast for AllAccess.com. Prior to joining the industry trade publication, Perry spent years in radio working as a Program Director and Operations Manager for KLSX and KLYY in Los Angeles and New Jersey 101.5 in Trenton. He can be found on X (formerly Twitter) @PMSimon.
