Why Influencers Have Trust and Journalists Don’t with 'The Future of Trustworthy Information' Author Julia Angwin

Welcome to In Reality, the podcast about truth and the media with Eric Schurenberg, a long-time journalist and media exec, now the founder of the Alliance for Trust in Media.

It’s not exactly news that the traditional news business is in decline. Most distressing to those of us who grew up in the profession: that audience levels of trust in the work we do has dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded.

Today’s guest, Julia Angwin, back for a second time on In Reality, is like Eric a product of the traditional news business. She worked at the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and also founded startup newsrooms like the Markup and, most recently, Proof News. But that’s not why she’s here today though...

Julia recently penned research for Harvard’s Shorenstein Center about what traditional newsrooms can learn from online influencers about trust. According to her paper, you earn trust by convincing others that you are competent to do what you say; that you have integrity and that you have their best interests in mind.

Julia and I discuss how influencers support those beliefs about themselves, without benefit of institutional brand names; how traditional newsrooms squandered trust; and ,what journalism needs to do about it.

Read Julia's Paper! The Future of Trustworthy Information: Learning from Online Content Creators

Takeaways

• Trust in media has reached a historic low.
• The creator economy is significantly larger than traditional journalism.
• Content creators often have a closer relationship with their audience.
• Integrity and accountability are crucial for rebuilding trust.
• Journalism needs to engage more with its audience.
• The concept of objectivity in journalism is outdated.
• Benevolence is about serving the audience's needs.
• Transparency in journalism can enhance trust.
• The future of journalism may be more about practice than profession.
• Holding power to account is the core mission of journalism.

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Produced by Tom Platts at Sound Sapien
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Alliance for Trust in Media
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