Journalism is dying, because people can no longer trust anything or believe anyone.
Glancing at Google’s list of current trending searches two weeks ago, a question stood out: did Disney buy the Bible? The thought was ridiculous, but it was plausible enough to influence millions in a world where nobody knows what to believe anymore.
Unfortunately, unsubstantiated claims such as this– which originated from Tiktok– often go viral on social media, capturing people’s attention and frequently their belief, regardless of how implausible the phrase may seem to be. Just as social media is everywhere in people’s daily lives, misinformation is also rampant. As people browse across Twitter, Instagram, and especially TikTok, they’re inundated with untrue claims, fake stories, and false advertisements. The human brain is not designed for such an immediate influx of information, and the result is that people are overwhelmed by the news being thrown at them, and unsure what to trust.
According to a 2021 poll from the Associated Press and National Opinion Resource Center, 95% of American adults say the spread of misinformation is a problem when it comes to getting information about current events and important issues. 91% say social media companies are responsible for this spread of misinformation.
Social media companies like X and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram spread inaccurate, biased information to their millions of impressionable users. The companies have not attempted to prioritize accurate news spreading; as a result, inaccurate and often contradictory news bombards social media users. This renders them less likely to trust general news, less likely to turn to more traditional news sources— such as reputable newspapers and magazines. According to Pew Research Center, 51% of U.S. adults said they followed the news all or most of the time in 2016, but that statistic fell to 38% in 2022.
People are withdrawing from journalism, and the consequences are evident.
In the digital age, both the business of and the concept of journalism are being threatened. The transition from paper-based to online journalism may have tested the industry, but the true danger to journalism has shown to be the relentless overflow of misinformation across the digital world. The effect upon the journalism industry can be seen through the influential magazine Sports Illustrated’s recent widespread job cuts, as well as the tens of millions of dollars in financial losses for the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.
To conclude, the key issue that has led to the journalism industry’s downturn is the misinformation overwhelming the general public. Unreliability on social media, as well as obvious bias in popular news programs, has caused people to be less willing to turn to traditional news sources. Journalism is dying, but there may be ways to revive it. A way to renew interest in journalism is to prove to readers journalism sources’ commitment to authentic, unbiased news. To do this, journalists must be more transparent about the sources from which they derive the news they report, and they must strive to always represent multiple perspectives in the news, not only a single perspective. In this way, journalists slowly prove to readers not only that they can be trusted, but that they must be trusted. Authentic journalism helps people understand the increasingly incomprehensible world; it must not be killed.
