From our Leader, Indian Newslink, March 1, 2024 Edition
Venkat Raman
Auckland, March 1, 2024
In their 2023 Report on the Trust In News In Aotearoa New Zealand, authors Dr Merja Myllylahti and Dr Greg Treadwell, Senior Lecturers in the Screen, Audio and Journalism Department at the School of Communication Studies of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) said that general trust in news declined last year to 42% from 53% in 2020.
They also quoted a New Zealand Herald December 2022 Poll which showed that New Zealanders considered media (38%) as the most untrustworthy institution of those sampled.
The government was distrusted by 33% of responders and big businesses by 30%.
The Report, based on research by Horizon Research Ltd, a company specialising in online polling, had 1120 New Zealand adults (18 years of age or over) participating between February 13 and February 18, 2023.
A concerning trend
These surveys somewhat match that of a Forbes Report which indicated that about 50% of Americans said that national news organisations in the USA “intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.
The Gallup and the Knight Foundation Survey went beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.
Sarah Fioroni, a consultant for Gallup said that the findings showed a depth of distrust and bad feeling that went beyond the foundations and processes of journalism.
Bad news seems to hit journos everywhere. Three years ago, the World Economic Forum heard that more than 37,000 reporters lost their jobs in the US during 2020. In Chile, the second-largest newspaper ended its daily print run, opting to publish only on weekends.
But it is not only media owners who have been hard hit, journalists have suffered too.
The Journalism and the Pandemic Project, a collaborative research initiative from the International Center for Journalists and the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, conducted a survey that identified financial hardship as a significant difficulty for 67% of reporters, globally.
These things were happening as the media industry struggled to navigate social unrest, fake news, and political polarisation. And the Edelman Trust Barometer found that in 2021, traditional media became less trusted than both government and business.
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Worldwide decline
The woes are not confined to the media industry. Many companies around the world find that the costs of their operations are rising faster than sales. They are discovering that it is harder to resist wage rises than to persuade customers to bear higher prices. This is likely to compress margins at a rate that has yet to be fully digested by analysts, who collectively cling to the prediction that profits would have grown in 2023.
According to the Economist, If the American economy does slide into a recession, as many economists expect, overall profits will almost certainly decline.
“Since the second world war earnings per share have fallen by an average of 13% around periods of economic contraction, according to Goldman Sachs. Yet the chorus of bosses advertising such ‘pricing power,’ last year’s favourite boast, will be quieter this earnings season. Although households are still spending excess savings built up during the pandemic, they are increasingly fishing for bargains,” the publication said.
American consumers skimped on everything from restaurants to electronics in December, causing retail sales to decline by 1.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with the previous month. Constellation Brands, which makes and distributes Corona beer for drinkers in America, said on January 5th that it plans slower price increases this year.
Many retailers are discounting goods to clear inventories. The prices of Tesla’s electric cars are lower globally by as much as 20%.
A differing point of view
John Witherow of the Times of London has said that now is one of the best times for young people to go into journalism.
In an editorial piece before stepping down from the post of Editor two years ago, he argued the ‘Golden Age’ for serious newspapers.
“It is wrong to argue that tech giants such as Google and Facebook have ‘sucked the lifeblood’ out of high-quality journalism. Today we are told that it is the tech giants who are killing us. Readers want everything for free, we must do click-bait, it is a race to the bottom. Except that is not true. Good journalism does not need saving. It is thriving. This is a golden age for serious journalism. It is expanding into audio and visual and reaching new audiences,” he said.
The need of the hour
There is a case for journalists to adapt to changes and become tech-savvy. Digital reporting with the appropriate use of video and podcast platforms is becoming the order of the day. Community newspapers such as Indian Newslink have opened new vistas of outreach including WhatsApp Channel.
This move to digital media generally does not generate filter bubbles. Instead automated serendipity and incidental exposure drive people to more and more diverse sources of information.
We live in exciting times.
