...but bogus local news sites likely on the way
The Knight Foundation’s Trust, Media and Democracy initiative paired up with Gallup to publish a new report: The State of Public Trust in Local News.
The good news is it shows Americans largely trust local news even as they’re more skeptical of national media outlets. But Colorado media observer Corey Hutchins reported some bad news in his latest Colorado Local News & Media newsletter – bogus online “news sites” are popping up in states across the country, revealing a new strategy to mislead readers and undermine trust in fact-based news.
The Knight-Gallup report reveals that local news bests national news in earning more trust of Americans for coverage that Americans can use in their daily life (79% to 19%) and in reporting without bias (66% to 31%). One of the ways local news maintains its trust advantage is by highlighting local stories outside of the national “spin machine.” In fact, 60% of Americans say their local news outlets do an “excellent” or “good” job of informing their communities.
Purveyors of deliberately deceptive information are taking advantage of the public’s trust of local media. In Michigan, there are 40 new locally-branded websites with names like the Lansing Sun, Ann Arbor Times and UP Gazette that fit the bill. For example, the Lansing Sun recently described Michigan’s road repair fund as well-padded, even though it’s obvious that the state’s infrastructure is crumbling. Hutchins’ newsletter outlines similar misleading digital outlets in Tennessee, Illinois and California.
So far we haven’t seen too much of this on either the right or the left in Colorado – most of our online sites are pretty upfront about what they publish (Colorado Peak Politics’ tagline is “Colorado’s conservative bully pulpit,” Colorado Citizen Press is “the voice of Colorado conservatives” and Colorado Times Recorder explains it “has a nonpartisan, progressive orientation”). Exceptions include the ultra right-wing, conspiracy-minded Epoch Times newspaper that has shown up in Denver news racks and Routt County mailboxes and the Colorado Business Daily, part of a national network of mysterious, conservative sites.
Given what’s happening across the country, we expect to see practitioners of political dark arts exploit trust in local news, so be forewarned – be sure to check out the credentials of the news sites you read. And, of course, not everything is rosy for legit local media outlets. With smaller newsrooms and unpredictable revenues, some local news outlets are struggling to keep their collective heads above water. Maintaining the existing level coverage – and therefore keeping readers/listeners/viewers engaged – will be an ongoing challenge.
If you’re committed to preserving a healthy media ecosystem, make sure you’re part of the solution – subscribe/support local outlets like the Colorado Sun, Denver Post, Colorado Independent, Colorado Politics, Denverite, Colorado Public Radio, CBS-4, Denver7, 9News, Fox 31 and the other folks delivering high quality journalism to Coloradans every day.