In a recent article, Inside Radio wrote, “Broadcast newsrooms look to solidify trust levels as U.S. skepticism rises.”
Media consultants are telling local newspapers and TV stations that this year’s election is bringing in more distrust from voters who, at times, don’t view local media any differently from the national media.
“The environment we’re in is causing a lot of people to question everything,” said Sean McLaughlin, VP of News at Graham Media Group. “Many consumers just see the ‘news as the news’ with less differentiation between national and local outlets. The way people consume content has changed so much that that’s not as clear as it used to be.”
Numbers show that voters’ trust in news organizations has eroded, but McLaughlin and others in the business still contend that more Americans trust local outlets than national media.
Several surveys support McLaughlin’s claim. In May of this year, Pew Research found more people prefer to get their news locally online.
An excerpt from Pew’s report reads: “Americans still see value in local news and local journalists. A large majority say local news outlets are at least somewhat important to the well-being of their local community. Most people also say local journalists are in touch with their communities and that their local news media perform well at several aspects of their jobs, such as reporting the news accurately.”
Seventy-one percent of the respondents believe that local media reports news accurately, while 68% said local media covers the most important stories. Sixty-three precent said that they consider local news providers to be more transparent than national outlets, and 61% said that local news providers do a good job keeping an eye on local political leaders.
Pew also said both major parties say local media in their area are doing their jobs well.
“While Republicans and GOP-leaning independents are slightly less positive than Democrats and Democratic leaners in their opinions of local media, views of local news don’t have the same stark political divides that exist within Americans’ opinions about national media,” Pew said.
The Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) conducted a study and found that trust in local media is good, but it needs to improve in several areas.
One of them was how local media covered politics. RTDNA’s study showed that only 39% felt political coverage on local outlets is balanced and represents all sides.
“Local broadcasters have some work to do in their communities,” said Sean McLaughlin.
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