Increasing News Literacy pt 1
This post is the first in a planned series on how to consume news stories for understanding and how to extract facts. Next will be
- Who owns the news outlets part 2
- Social media is not a news source
It is increasingly difficult to trust information that we read and hear from others. The internet has evolved in such a way that allows us to be flooded by articles, opinions, posts, and other forms of media.
These are still new methods of consuming information and the community is still learning how to navigate the sea of data.
In this post, I want to explain some of the ways that misinformation has become a problem and how we can move ahead to build trustworthy information channels.
Ad Revenue
Ad revenue for news outlets extends into the billions-of-dollars per year realm. Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN, the top three news networks in the United States, generated close to $2.85 billion in ad revenue in 2020 [1]. These news networks are all owned by publicly traded companies, so their performance is important to shareholders.
News is business, and businesses want to make as much money as they can. Ad revenue is the primary component of revenue for a news corporation, and they get paid by view.
When a few million people are tuned in to watch Fox or MSNBC news, then a few million people are tuned in to watch the commercials.
When a news article goes viral online, and a few million people click it, then a few million people trigger the ads to run on that article.
It is in the financial interest of news sources whose success is measured in dollars to draw the highest number of viewers so those viewers can watch the most ads.
Techniques
The same events happen for everyone. One person may be closer to the event, or actually involved in the event, but the event happens. News sources are all drawing from the same pool of events.
How does one news source draw more viewership than another news source then? They need to employ various techniques to make themselves more attractive and make people want to consume their news rather than a competitors. More eyes == more money.
First, is using their network of contacts to get the hottest scoops first. If a news outlet can get a story first, then theirs is the only site or channel that interested parties can go for the details. This is increasingly difficult in the internet age where information moves faster than humans can think.
Second, the personalities presenting the news. On television, it is in the network’s best interest to have an entertaining and/or attractive person present the news. Someone that is inherently trustworthy or gives the impression of being trustworthy. Viewers may not want to believe the truth, but they absolutely do not want to be lied to.
This is why we can associate people’s names with the news. Anderson Cooper, Tucker Carlson*, Rachel Maddow, Bill O’Reilly. They are personalities with brand recognition.
Third, news stories need to sound important. To make the most money, a news source needs to have a story that will draw viewership and clicks. They need to have enough stories so when a person wants to know what is going on, their first thought is to check that news source. In the internet age, people can check the news at any time.
It puts pressure on news outlets to keep stories that people will click on cycling 24 hours per day. This pressure can make it attractive to pad a news story with information that has been unchecked.
People often read a headline but not the entire article, so headlines need to be eye-catching. Clickbait is used by many blog or lifestyle outlets to draw readership online. Most mainstream news organizations refrain from using blatant clickbait titles to help retain integrity. The temperature or feel of a news headline, however, can be manipulated without reaching clickbait levels.
“Spin” may be employed to present a real event or fact in a light that is more appealing to the target demographic.
Result
News outlets are pressured to maximize profits because they are owned by publicly traded entities. They make money each time a viewer sees an ad, whether on television or in their browser. The competition for viewership can, consciously or unconsciously, drive outlets to take any advantage to spice up their version of the story. This is one component of the erosion of truth in media.
- CNN is owned by WarnerMedia (AT&T)
- Fox News is owned by Fox Corporation
- MSNBC is owned by Comcast
- New York Post is owned by Fox Corporation
- Wall Street Journal is owned by Fox Corporation
Find a Reliable News Source
Ad Fontes Media maintains a chart that plots news sources based on their information reliability and political bias. I strongly recommend looking at the latest chart and assessing two things:
- Where do your current news sources lie?
- Is there any reason not to switch to one or more sources in the green box?
https://www.adfontesmedia.com/
Do not confuse reading displeasurable news with bias.
Notes and Sources
* Tucker Carlson has won at least one lawsuit on the grounds that statements he has made on his show cannot be “reasonably understood as being factual”. He is the biggest personality in this medium, but it is important to understand that Fox itself does not believe his show is factual.
From the lawsuit dismissal documents:
As Defendant notes, Mr. Carlson himself aims to “challenge political correctness and media bias.” Def. Br. at 14. This “general tenor” of the show should then inform a viewer that he is not “stating actual facts” about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in “exaggeration” and “non-literal commentary.”
Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2019cv11161/527808/39/
[1] https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/trump-cnn-fox-news-msnbc-1234827632/