Public trust in the media has been dwindling.
Net trust in U.S. Media is 29% which is the lowest among 46 countries that were surveyed, according to the Digital News Report. Canada has 45%, and Mexico has 37%. The report states that this low rating is due to America’s highly polarised market and highlights that news cable organizations like CNN, FOX and MSNBC have the highest distrust level.
Some speculate that is due to the previous administration’s attack on the media. In contrast, others suggest that it could be a deeper problem in the economics of journalism.
Whatever the reason may be, this mistrust of traditional news media has bled into the local level. As a result, new staff members have experienced worrying responses when asking students to be interviewed.
“You’re not going to like what I have to say” or “I’m not trying to get canceled” are some of the responses we get while asking the student body’s opinion on an issue.
This type of response is very disheartening to us. No students at TCC should be scared to share their opinion on an issue. The Collegian is here to represent the student body. No matter what political leaning you may sway.
The Collegian is not in the business of yellow journalism. We are not looking for quotes that we can twist into a better story or clickbait headlines.
The Collegian is not asking you to put your full faith in us and act like our words are from the Gospels.
About 63% of Americans think that the public should be more skeptical rather than trusting of news media, according to Pew Research Center. Being skeptical is a good thing. It means that you are open to the possibility of being wrong and that you strive for greater knowledge. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t try to gain more of your trust.
The same report by Pew Research Center found that 71% of Americans say that news media can improve the level of confidence the public has in them. It also states that 55% of Americans want a personal connection with their news sources.
The Collegian believes that one way to establish a personal connection with you is to understand where we are coming from.
The staff isn’t much of an emotionless machine. We do have opinions and thoughts on the world. Just like you, we are human.
The Collegian feels that if were are open about our biases, then we can become more trustworthy rather than act like we don’t have any in the first place.
Another way Pew Research Center shows that news media can gain the public’s trust is with official correction when the news media makes a mistake. 51% of Americans would feel more confident if the outlet made official corrections if it makes a mistake.
The Collegian has always done and will continue to make corrections when we mistake quotes or misspell names or details in a story.
The Collegian staff will strive to be the best journalist that we can be. The staff will definitely make mistakes this semester, but we will be open and honest about them.
We understand that this won’t fix the partisan divide across the nation and sensationalist practices in traditional media or magically change overnight. It will be a long process to gain the public’s trust again.
But, we hope that this small community college newspaper can be one of the few news organizations that you can trust to be honest and only give you the facts, leaving it up to you to form your own informed opinion on a matter.
