Should We Trust the Media?
That was the question at the heart of the most recent Munk Debate, a series that’s no stranger to controversy. In its most recent iteration, participants debated this resolution: “Be it resolved: don’t trust the mainstream media.”
You can listen to the debate in full here.
Although I would’ve loved to see a different cast of characters debate a (slightly) different resolution, declining trust in Canadian media is one of the most important challenges facing our society right now.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons (Stephane Tougard)
The media plays a crucial role in informing people about what’s happening around them. Without a free flow of information about public affairs, people don’t have the raw materials they need to be active citizens. And to do that job well, the media needs the public’s trust.
For a variety of unfortunate reasons, that trust can no longer be taken for granted. A decent amount of the decline can be attributed to recent political trends, which include the interrelated phenomena of surging authoritarianism and populism, attacks on expertise (like science), political extremism and polarization, and democratic backsliding.
In the inaugural episode of the Sault Ste. Marie podcast, Professor April Lindgren provided an excellent snapshot of the contemporary challenges facing Canadian media. That landscape is characterized by the closure of countless outlets, a concentration of ownership, and a fragmentation of audiences.
The crisis in journalism is even more acute in smaller communities, including Sault Ste. Marie. Sadly, that’s despite the best efforts of some intrepid journalists. The Sault Star recently downsized its print distribution (again), and SaultOnline just partnered with another company while its co-founder seems to be onto another business venture.
So, what would tangibly increase trust in the media in a local context? I want to briefly offer three suggestions.
1) Invest time and resources in investigative stories and speak truth to power.
The stories that are the most important to tell take time (and therefore money). Outlets that are struggling to keep the doors open may not have the privileges of investing significant resources in stories that either don’t pan out or potentially distract them.
That said, I think that’s it’s a very smart (if calculated) risk to invest more time and resources in public interest investigative journalism. I’m happy to say that there have been encouraging signs in the media ecosystem of Sault Ste. Marie lately, including several important stories that have broken in the past year or so. I have my fingers crossed that such a positive trend continues apace.
If there’s anything that’ll convince the average person that the media is trustworthy, it’s focusing on the issues that affect them most, and holding both the public and private sectors to a high standard of accountability and transparency.
There are also ample opportunities to connect what’s happening in local communities with the provincial or even national conversation. In a forthcoming story from me, you’ll be able to see some of this conversation connecting in action.
2) Create a firewall between advertisers and news content.
I think the greatest threat to local media is its fragile business model, and especially its (over) reliance on advertising revenue.
Advertising isn’t just an occasional annoyance. It can skew news coverage in ways that readers (and sometimes editors) don’t even realize. In a highly competitive market and only so many advertising dollars to go around, there’s always a potential friction between the interests of advertisers and the interests of the public.
For example, corporations and politicians are significant sources of advertising revenue for local media these days. Holding them accountable is much more difficult when their advertising contributions help to keep the media’s doors open.
Creating good content that audiences are willing to pay for is therefore key to creating long-term financial sustainability. Without it, there’s not much insulation between the newsroom and the potential pressures from advertising.
3) Celebrate the positive things happening in the community, but don’t shy away from challenging stories.
One of the most beautiful things about local media is the sense of community that it fosters. Telling positive stories about the place you live is vital, especially when the broader news cycle appears to be a never-ending pit of despair.
Nonetheless, getting an accurate picture of what’s happening on the ground requires occasionally delving into the margins of society. If there’s one thing I’d like to read more about, it’s the people and perspectives that aren’t already a part of the public conversation. That requires an unsparing look at the blemished aspects of a community, which isn’t always easy or appreciated.
I need to end with some good news because there’s more than enough to go around, despite the challenges just described.
The Investigative Journalism Foundation recently launched and it’s an exciting new model that could revolutionize journalism in Canada.
They’ve undertaken a massive public interest research project, taking volumes of publicly available records and putting them together in interactive databases that can be searched.
They’ve published a few stories about what the data tell us, including some staggering numbers about Canada’s arms exports to authoritarian countries.
Although the stories that follow are likely to be national in scale, journalists and media outlets in smaller communities can use the same data for their own public interest investigations.
In the coming months, you can expect some stories along the same lines, ones that connect the dots between publicly available records, including the overlaps between generous political donations and recipients of public funding.
There are also a few other newsletter instalments and podcast episodes that are nearing completion.
Stay tuned.