Too many Americans are losing faith in the role of journalists

Brier Dudley

Further evidence that we’re living in a bizarro world, where wrong is right and down is up, came in a recent Pew Research Center survey.

It found a shockingly large number of Americans don’t strongly believe journalists should hold public figures accountable, by calling out false and misleading information.

Did they skip civics and history lessons?

Brier Dudley's SAVE THE FREE PRESS columns are made available for free to the public and to other newspapers for their use — to build awareness of the local journalism crisis and potential solutions. The entire body of work is viewable here: st.news/SavetheFreePress

Are people so fatigued by awful national and global news, they don’t care anymore?

Or maybe this is just what it’s like in countries that let their local, independent news ecosystems wither away.

More than 70 million Americans live in news deserts, with little to no local journalism. Many remaining news outlets are threadbare, milked dry by distant corporate owners or beaten down by economic disruption.

We read less and spend more time in social media and streaming video bubbles. Only 17% of Americans pay for news subscriptions, instead of scrounging for free stuff online.

Then there are incessant attacks on the press by the president and his devotees, further eroding faith in journalists’ role in a democracy.

That’s left us in a state where Pew found that only 49% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats believe journalists should be providing “information they need to make decisions.”

Even worse: Just 57% of Republicans think journalists “definitely” should “correct false or misleading information from public figures.”

Among Democrats, 73% think journalists definitely should perform this watchdog role, according to Pew’s survey of 9,397 Americans in April. Its report on “How Americans View Journalists in the Digital Age” was published Aug. 20.

Averaged out, Pew found 64% of Americans believe journalists “definitely” should correct false or misleading information from public figures. Another 20% believe they “probably should” and 6% say they should not; others had no opinion either way.

Maybe it’s not so bad if only 6% completely lost the plot and 20% are wobbling.

This gets at evolving perceptions of “the news” and what people expect from those providing it.

Pew found Americans are split over whether people sharing news via podcasts, social media and newsletters are journalists. It said Americans have fairly traditional ideas about journalists that are “still tied to what the news industry looked like in the 20th century.”

I don’t think it’s about looks: I think they appreciate the enduring value of strong journalism with high standards, and they miss having it done locally.

Fortunately there are still journalists and news organizations here and there with the commitment and resources to expose corruption, duplicity and poorly performing officials and institutions.

Here’s a sample of recent investigative journalism highlighted by Local Matters, a reporter-produced newsletter I’ve written about before:

• Glenn Coin at The Post Standard in Syracuse, N.Y., used public records to report that a $23 million sewage plant that was supposed to save taxpayers millions is sitting idle because its air quality is too toxic for workers.
• Matt Mencarini, at the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal, didn’t take no for an answer and finally obtained text messages shedding light on a former police lieutenant’s “brazen embezzlement of public money” and how officials tried to manage the fallout.
• Brendan Lyons at The (Albany, N.Y.) Times Union reported that the U.S. Attorney in Albany is required by law to live in the area but listed his residence as an unoccupied, boarded up building.
• Deirdre Fernandes at The Boston Globe revealed that a nonprofit, contracted to manage a shelter for homeless and migrant families, spent a chunk of the money on a catering company owned by one of the nonprofit’s board members.
• Charlotte Alden at Cascadia Daily News in Bellingham revealed that after a school district determined a junior high teacher sexually harassed students, it took 18 months for Washington state officials to place a formal reprimand in his file.
• Jesse Paul at The Colorado Sun reported that a state representative charged gas to his campaign, then asked taxpayers to reimburse him for mileage.
• Hillary Borrud at The Oregonian in Portland revealed that a powerful state legislator will get roads resurfaced in his coastal subdivision using federal wildfire recovery money.
• A team of journalists at The Miami Herald and NPR station WLRN spent a year investigating the soaring death toll of a passenger train that’s killed someone every 13 days, on average, with local and federal officials adding to the problem.

Perhaps if more Americans saw this work, or had local news outlets doing such accountability journalism, Pew would find broader support for this cornerstone of a well-functioning democracy.

Brier Dudley on Twitter: @BrierDudley is editor of The Seattle Times Save the Free Press Initiative. Its weekly newsletter: https://st.news/FreePressNewsletter. Reach him at bdudley@seattletimes.com.