Almost every American is worried about the state of the media

According to boutique PR agency, Bospar, in collaboration with Propeller Insights, it was revealed that more than 95 percent of Americans are concerned about the current state of media.

At least 53 percent cited “reports on fake news,” 49 percent cited “reporting gossip,” and 48 percent cited “lying spokespeople,” as the key causes for their mistrust.

Other factors also troubled the US public, including “celebrity opinions”, hidden political agendas and the reporting of “blind items” in the news.

Of the respondents, 67 percent believe ethics in journalism will be worse during the 2020 presidential campaign, while 40 percent of those surveyed considered local print and online journalists as the most ethical while 23 percent considered their local TV reporters and anchors most ethical.

National print and online journalists are considered the most trustworthy by 22 percent, while only 15 percent said national TV anchors and reporters were the most ethical.

The survey questioned 1 010 American adults.

The digital news industry in the United States is facing a bright future. As digital journalists gather for the Online News Association’s annual conference this week in New Orleans, some key findings about the way Americans get news online – as well as how digital newsrooms in the US are faring, were compiled from recent Pew Research Center surveys and analyses.

A steadily growing portion of Americans are getting news through the internet, while many US adults get their news on social media, and employment at digital-native outlets has increased.

Digital news has not been immune to issues affecting the broader media environment, including public distrust, but the share of Americans who prefer to get their news online is nevertheless growing. In 2018, 34 percent of US adults said they preferred to get news online, whether through websites, apps or social media. In 2016, it was 28 percent.

Television still remains the most popular source of news, with 44 percent of Americans citing a preference for TV, but it may not be for long.

Roughly eight-in-ten Americans who get local news online (82 percent) say an easy-to-use website is an important feature, while other say a schedule of local events (59 percent) and regularly updated social media accounts (51 percent) are important features.

Employment in digital newsrooms increased 82 percent between 2008 and 2018, according to a Pew survey. The number of digital-native newsroom employees increased from about 7 400 to about 13 500 during this 10-year span.

This increase of about 6 100 total jobs, however, fell short of offsetting the loss of some 33 000 labour-intensive newspaper jobs during the same period.  Overall newsroom employment in the US has dropped by 25 percent from 2008 to 2018, a decrease driven by newspapers.

Today, more Americans get news on social media than from print newspapers. In 2018, one-in-five adults said they often get news on social media. Facebook continues to dominate as the most common social media site used for news by Americans: Around four-in-ten Americans (43 percent) get news from this site.