Which of the following do you hold most responsible for the decline of news media…
– Disruptive technology like A.I.
– Increasing alternatives to traditional media
– Reluctance on the part of consumers to pay for news
– Loss of trust in the media— Joseph Mallozzi đ´ââ ď¸ (@BaronDestructo) February 13, 2024
A small sample size, but the results don’t surprise me – and I don’t believe would have been all  that different with a bigger sample size.  Your thoughts?
What is your go-to most trusted news source?
– Big media (ie network news, newspapers, radio, websites)
– Regional media (ie local news, newspapers, radio, websites)
– Social media (facebook, twitter/X, tiktok)
– Podcasts or other disrupters— Joseph Mallozzi đ´ââ ď¸ (@BaronDestructo) February 13, 2024
I no longer own a t.v., so I’m definitely with the majority here. Â And you?
For those citing a "lack of trust in the media" as a reason for their decline, was there a precipitating incident – news coverage (or lack thereof) – that led YOU to reassess their standing? If so, what was it?
— Joseph Mallozzi đ´ââ ď¸ (@BaronDestructo) February 14, 2024
For me, the past couple of years have been a real eye opener.
What do you say?
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I would say if there’s anything that makes me distrust major news outlets now it’s the increasingly centralized ownership by private interests which don’t necessarily have the public’s interests at heart. I am however a big fan of local news, at least around here. CBC Radio One stations in NB do excellent real journalism, not just acting as stenographers for whatever monied or political interests there are out there.
I find social media now almost completely useless as a way to even keep in touch with people, let alone get my news from. Completely untrustworthy unless you’re willing to give up your sense of the world to some obscure algorithm and likely actually a detriment since it’s willing to feed you news based on whatever preconceived biases that it senses you have. Personally, I believe it’s the worst thing to happen to modern society in the last 20 years and it’s not even close.
I don’t find most podcasts are good at reporting news either. They’re commentary on news and one thing I’ve learned from the internet is that everyone has any opinion about everything, whether they know anything about it or not. If someone is injecting their own feelings into something that they’re talking about, it’s NOT news.
99.9% agree with @gforce on this one.
I remember we had the same problem in early to mid 1970s, here in the U.S.
i.e Sensationalism vs just the facts/real news reporting and deeper investigative journalism.
It played out over a period of about 10 years where very few trusted what was being reported in main stream news because of too many opinions – not enough ‘just the facts mam’ type reporting. And the amount of “fluff” pieces and political bias that filled the main stream news pages at some point became too numerous to bother continue counting.
The problem seem to return again in the early 1990s when a large corporate owned news company decided to turn the criminal trials of one famous person or another into soap opera mini series entertainment for the masses, lasting several weeks to several months. Their viewership sky rocketed so all the major news outlets became copy cats.
The whole Covid/protest response from the media was a real eye opener. It’s a popular meme now but remember when the reporter was in front of a blazing businesses and said “It’s mostly peaceful”? đ
Or the fact the media downplayed Covid transmission during protests. As if, virus transmission wasn’t a factor in a group of screaming people. California arrested one man paddleboarding alone in the ocean but Hey, protesting in a group of hundreds, while screaming was fine.
It’s no wonder the media are facing mass layoffs with some of the headlines they are pushing these days, too. The media bias for certain subjects are obvious. It’s not facts that are pushed but opinions. I don’t want opinions, I want them to report the facts.
I used to regularly watch the Sunday morning news talk shows as well as daily network and local newscasts but tired of all the bickering and negativity from all political parties and rarely watch now.
Speaking of owning televisions, I own but rarely watch broadcast and donât subscribe to cable or satellite. The television is primarily used as a computer monitor and to access the internet and streaming.