Journalism

The steady loss of local newspapers and journalists across the country contributes to the nation’s political polarization, a new study has found. According to research published in the Journal of Communication, with fewer opportunities to find out about local politicians, citizens are more likely to turn to national sources like cable news and apply their feelings about national politics to people running for the town council or state legislature. The result is much less “split ticket” voting, or people whose ballot includes votes for people of different parties.

Since announcing his candidacy in the 2016 presidential elections to the end of his second year in office, President Donald Trump has sent 1,339 tweets about the media that were critical, insinuating, condemning, or threatening. In lieu of formal appearances as president, Trump has tweeted over 5,400 times to his more than 55.8 million followers; over 11 percent of these insulted or criticized journalists and outlets, or condemned and denigrated the news media as a whole.

As Americans brace for the next presidential campaign — already underway and showing on a screen near you — press pundits are worried about the news media’s readiness for the challenge ahead. Will reporters follow the same assumptions that made the outcome in 2016 such a shock? Can pollsters reassure a public that has soured on the power of political forecasting?

There was a proliferation of fake news during the 2016 election cycle. Grinberg et al. analyzed Twitter data by matching Twitter accounts to specific voters to determine who was exposed to fake news, who spread fake news, and how fake news interacted with factual news. Fake news accounted for nearly 6% of all news consumption, but it was heavily concentrated—only 1% of users were exposed to 80% of fake news, and 0.1% of users were responsible for sharing 80% of fake news.

Open Markets Institute calls on Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to immediately investigate how to protect America’s independent news media from the power and predatory business models of Google and Facebook.

Democrats raised fresh questions and Republicans pushed back Jan 20, after a BuzzFeed report alleging President Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress exploded in the media over the weekend. Republicans swiped at BuzzFeed News and the media after special counsel Robert Mueller's office issued a rare statement that the story was not accurate. Vice President Mike Pence pointed to the reaction to the report as evidence that some are out to “get” President Trump. The president’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, suggested BuzzFeed should be sued.

The National Association of Broadcasters has joined with other groups in the News Media for Open Government (NMOG) coalition to press the new Congress to better protect journalists, including the long-sought federal shield law that has been introduced in numerous Congresses over the past couple of decades.

A majority of Americans believe the news media do not understand people like them, and this feeling is especially common among Republicans. Overall, 58% of US adults feel the news media do not understand people like them, while 40% feel they are understood. Republicans, however, are nearly three times as likely to feel that news organizations don’t understand them (73%) as they are to say they feel understood (25%). By comparison, most Democrats (58%) say they feel understood by the news media, while four-in-ten say they do not.

William Barr’s nomination as President Doanld Trump’s attorney general is in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducted a confirmation hearing Jan 15. Below are some key communications policy takeaways:

WordPress is excited to announce funding for a new platform, Newspack by WordPress.com, aimed at small- and medium-sized news organizations. Google, through the Google News Initiative, is taking the lead in backing the project and has committed $1.2 million. Other funders include The Lenfest Institute for Journalism, which is contributing $400,000; ConsenSys, the venture studio backing Civil Media, which is contributing $350,000; and The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which is contributing $250,000.