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Misinformation After Trump Assassination Attempt Shows the US Needs Media Reform
In the immediate aftermath of the attempt to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump, social media became a cesspool of conspiracy theories and an amplifier of partisan propaganda.
Jul 21, 2024
At a time of political turmoil and uncertainty about mainstream news coverage, more Americans are turning to social media for the information they need to understand current events. But once there, they’re met with a slew of lies, making it difficult to separate fiction from the facts people need to participate in civic society.
In the immediate aftermath of the attempt to assassinate former U.S. President Donald Trump, social media became a cesspool of conspiracy theories and an amplifier of partisan propaganda as Trump supporters and trolls exploited the violence to deepen political divides and sow chaos. Meanwhile, so many on the left went online to claim that the entire incident was fabricated that tens of millions of people saw Twitter posts containing the hashtag “#staged.”
So where should people go to get the accurate news and information they need to engage in the democratic process during a contentious election year?
Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.
The answer isn’t simple, but it’s clear that the status quo isn’t working. According to a recent Free Press Action poll, nearly 3 out of every 4 Americans say they don’t feel “very well informed” when voting in local elections.
The poll results strongly suggest that both old and new media are in need of a shake-up in advance of November.
The poll surveyed 3,000 people from across the country, and respondents relayed their concerns about the twin problems of dwindling local news coverage and the prevalence of false information online. Almost 80% said they were concerned that the information they see online is false, fake, or a deliberate attempt to confuse. A majority of people across the country believe that having more independent news outlets could safeguard against disinformation and strengthen our democracy. They support increasing public funding to create and expand local and independent news.
In statehouses across the country, lawmakers are weighing legislation to address the crisis in local journalism. One such proposal in California (SB 1327) would impose a fee on major tech platforms to help support the production of local news. The estimated $500 million this fee would generate would provide outlets with an employment tax credit to cover a portion of employees’ wages. SB 1327 passed the state Senate in June and is expected before the state Assembly in August. Bill champions are still working to gather support for the legislation as it moves closer to passage.
In 2018, New Jersey established the Civic Information Consortium and provided it with the state funding necessary to distribute millions of dollars in grants to community outlets working to engage people in civic affairs.
Measures like these are a good start. Over the past two decades, the country has lost nearly 60% of local-newspaper reporters. Instead of filling that void, social media has stuffed it full of high-engagement content that often spreads falsehoods and conspiracy theories instead of informing people about local issues.
And it’s not just public policy that’s needed. In response to concerns about the spread of disinformation, Free Press joined with 200 other civil society groups to demand that social media platforms strengthen election-integrity efforts. We’ve asked the likes of Google, Meta, and X to reinstate election-integrity policies and staff up critical trust and safety teams to better enforce policies across languages.
According to our poll, the vast majority of Americans across racial, ethnic, and political lines—including two-thirds of independents and GOP voters—want these companies to prevent the spread of misinformation online.
At a time of extreme and heated partisan divides, the poll reveals a silver lining: Nationwide, more people understand the shortcomings of the existing media environment and support the changes needed to fix it.
The challenge before people everywhere is to mobilize behind efforts to compel popular media—both traditional and online—to engage with and be more responsive to the needs of their readers and viewers.
There’s no doubt that this is a hard moment in U.S. history, that tensions are high, that divisions run hot. The media too often play a role in stoking those flames. But people from across the political spectrum are telling us that they’re ready for a change, and today I feel hopeful that we can work together to build a media system that supports full democratic participation.
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Gannett Journalists Walk Out, Accusing CEO of Decimating Local Newsrooms
"It's become apparent that no corporation or CEO is going to save local news, it's up to journalists to preserve our industry and our democracy," said unionized journalists at The Arizona Republic.
Jun 05, 2023
As shareholders gathered at the annual meeting of Gannett, the largest newspaper company in the United States following a 2019 merger, hundreds of unionized employees from across the country walked off the job on Monday to demand investors take action against what the journalists say is corporate greed at the top of the organization.
The journalists, who are represented by the NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America (CWA), say CEO and chairman Mike Reed has overseen the gutting of local newsrooms across the country at Gannett's more than 300 publications, jeopardizing readers' access to local news and threatening the livelihoods of reporters while Reed collects a multi-million-dollar salary.
With the walkout, the unionized employees are calling on shareholders to hold a no-confidence vote against Reed.
In a letter to investors last month, the NewsGuild-CWA argued that Reed has "failed shareholders" by taking on debt with high interest rates when Gannett merged with GateHouse Media in 2019.
While taking home a $7.7 million salary in in 2021 and $3.4 million last year, Reed has "maintained a compensation policy that is forcing many of our journalists to seek work elsewhere," the union wrote.
"From a shareholder perspective, these cuts to local news reporters and local news don't just weaken civil society, they diminish the future of that company in the community."
"He has reduced local content by relying on wire service and regional stories [and] cut newsroom staff," the NewsGuild said. "As a result, our communities are not being served and our employees are demoralized. Therefore, we believe it is time for a change in leadership: a clear vote of no-confidence in a guy who has weakened our company, forsaken the towns and cities where we have outlets, and impoverished shareholders."
In order to cut costs to service the company's debt, The New York Times reported Monday, Gannett has cut its workforce nearly in half since 2019. The Austin American-Statesman now has 41 newsroom employees, down from 110 before the merger. The Milwaukee Sentinel's staff has been cut from 104 to 83 in that time period; The South Bend Tribune's was cut from 45 to just 14 in South Bend, Indiana; and The Arizona Republic in Phoenix has cut its workforce from 140 to 89.
Gannett has also closed dozens of newspapers entirely, including six weekly publications in the Akron, Ohio area this past February and four papers in Northern Kentucky last year.
Cost-cutting measures have left readers of The Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, New York without a business section; The Herald-Tribune in Sarasota, Florida without dedicated reporters focusing on the environment or city government; and just one reporter at The American-Statesman covering issues related to City Hall, Travis County, transportation, and public safety.
"We know what happens to communities when the light from news outlets dims,"
said the NewsGuild last month. "Political extremism can surge, corruption has fewer watchdogs, high school sports have fewer chroniclers, corporate misconduct has fewer witnesses, and municipal borrowing costs can rise. From a shareholder perspective, these cuts to local news reporters and local news don't just weaken civil society, they diminish the future of that company in the community."
The shareholder meeting and walkout come five months after Gannett laid of 6% of its 3,440-employee media division.
Richard Ruelas, a columnist at The Arizona Republic, organized a crowd-sourced fundraiser to support employees as they stage the walkout, which they plan to continue on Tuesday at the newspaper.
While cutting jobs across the company, said the
Arizona Republic Guild, Gannett officials have refused to provide remaining journalists with fair wages and working conditions.
\u201cGannett claims it's going to "save journalism." We're not sure how overworking and underpaying journalists accomplishes that goal.\n\nIt's become apparent that no corporation or CEO is going to save local news, it's up to journalists to preserve our industry and our democracy.\u201d— Arizona Republic Guild \ud83c\udf35 (@Arizona Republic Guild \ud83c\udf35) 1685630391
"After over three years of bargaining and repeated unfair labor practices, it's also become apparent that asking nicely isn't going to get us fair wages, benefits and protections for our newsroom, and that Gannett has no intention to bargain over these issues in good faith,"
said the union.
According to Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild, Reed oversaw a "complete farce" at the shareholder meeting on Monday, ending the conference after just eight minutes and refusing to take questions.
"What a complete joke. Mike Reed needs to go,"
said Schleuss. "He has no ability to lead Gannett and no ability to be accountable to journalists or shareholders."
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How Lawmakers Are Helping Sinclair Broadcast Group Destroy Local News
National and state-level efforts to “save local news” would reward chains like Sinclair that continue to neglect the information needs of communities they’re supposed to serve.
May 03, 2023
Sometimes lawmakers write legislation that would do the opposite of its stated goal. Nowhere is this more evident than in two recent bills—one introduced at the state level and another in the U.S. Congress—that are supposedly designed to “save local news.”
Both the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA) and the federal Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA) would allow news publishers—including broadcast companies—to extract payments from large social-media enterprises like Alphabet and Meta in exchange for linking to their content. This would apply to any content regardless of its accuracy or news value.
One of the bigger beneficiaries of California’s CJPA and the U.S. Senate’s JCPA is a conglomerate that seems determined to get rid of local news and replace it with right-wing spin produced at a “National Desk.”
One of the bigger beneficiaries of California’s CJPA and the U.S. Senate’s JCPA is a conglomerate that seems determined to get rid of local news and replace it with right-wing spin produced at a “National Desk” far from the communities this broadcast company is legally obligated to serve.
That conglomerate, Sinclair Broadcast Group, recently announced plans to eliminate entire local newsrooms at local-television stations in five broadcast areas. Sinclair is also drastically cutting newsroom staff at an additional five local stations, pushing all of these stations to fill the resulting news hole with National Desk boilerplate. That means zero local coverage—and lots of the cookie-cutter conservatism that Sinclair has pumped out via the public airwaves for decades.
Saving Local News by Throttling It
Sinclair doesn’t care about the benefits that local news coverage brings to communities. The company owns and operates several stations that broadcast to regions of California, including KAEF in Eureka, KBAK in Bakersfield, KMPH in Fresno, KRCR in Redding, and KRXI around Lake Tahoe. Any of these newsrooms could be next on its chopping block. But lawmakers in Sacramento and Washington are ignoring Sinclair’s dismal track record and moving forward with legislation that would reward Sinclair as it undermines local news.
On Tuesday, the CJPA passed through California Assembly’s Judiciary Committee just a few days after the Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection advanced it. And in Washington, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has reintroduced the JCPA, which failed to pass in the previous Congress after facing headwinds from a coalition of local-news advocates and media-democracy groups.
Both bills would create a convoluted mechanism for corporate handouts to highly profitable and consolidated media outlets—and both bills would allow these chains to continue to neglect the information needs of the communities they’re supposed to serve.
Both bills would create a convoluted mechanism for corporate handouts to highly profitable and consolidated media outlets—and both bills would allow these chains to continue to neglect the information needs of the communities they’re supposed to serve.
That these bills have any momentum is largely due to the powerful Big Media lobby pushing them. This includes lobbyists working on behalf of Sinclair as well as Gannett Co. and predatory hedge fund Alden Global Capital, which have also cut local newsrooms to the bone even as they’ve continued to buy back stocks, go deeper into debt to acquire more local outlets, and use other financial gimmicks to enrich their owners, executives, and shareholders.
These companies aren’t journalism’s saviors. In many places they’ve created news deserts after shuttering local operations. Lawmakers shouldn’t reward them for such slash-and-burn tactics. Instead, policymakers should pass bills that support local-accountability journalism by putting reporters back on local beats and expanding coverage in communities that companies like Sinclair have failed.
The FCC Must Step Up, Too
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has largely taken a pass on disciplining these companies for repeatedly misleading regulators about their constant misuse of the public airwaves.
An FCC mandate is to “protect and advance diversity, competition, and localism in the media marketplace.” The agency has instead allowed Sinclair to consolidate control over nearly 200 local stations. And in 2018, the conglomerate misled the FCC about the nature of its control over the many stations it already owned in a failed attempt to gobble up even more.
In exchange for exclusive access to so much of our public airwaves, Sinclair thumbs its nose at public-interest obligations, delivering the bare minimum required by the FCC.
The FCC needs to take a long-overdue look at its legacy of failure.
It created sham businesses and shell companies to evade FCC station-ownership limits. It forces these local-TV stations to air “must-run segments” filled with propaganda seemingly pulled straight from a MAGA rally. And it routinely cuts back on local-news staffing while its top executives get rich off the bumper crop of political campaign ads that come around every two years.
Whether it’s via state or federal legislation, or a federal agency that has too often bucked its obligation to serve the public interest, regulators seem intent on saving local news by ignoring—or even perpetuating—the problems that led to its collapse in the first place.
Once we recognize the miscues and market failures driving the journalism crisis, it becomes hard to justify simply handing money over to these same incumbents. This recognition requires we shift our focus away from bills like the CJPA and JCPA toward public policy that creates funding for local-accountability journalism, including noncommercial initiatives.
The FCC needs to take a long overdue look at its legacy of failure. Promoting competition, localism, and diversity means giving more locally owned outlets access to the public airwaves—outlets that will serve their communities in ways Sinclair has not.
In a strategic sleight of hand, the large news-media companies want us to conflate the public importance of local journalism with their own bottom lines. When companies like Sinclair lobby for these bad bills, they want us to forget their actual record of mistreating their own reporters. They want to pretend they’re not getting rich by maintaining this broken system that’s misusing our airwaves and poisoning our democracy.
The problem is that too many of our elected representatives and appointed media regulators are all too willing to give Sinclair a pass, and have opted to “save local news” by becoming accessories to its demise.
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