Wisconsin has lost almost one in five of its newspapers in the past year. The state of newspapers has been dismal for years, and the 2024 figures are grim.
This his year alone, 130 newspapers nationwide shut down, according to a report by the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
But, according to The Public News Service in Wisconsin, amid an increasing climate of misinformation and media distrust among some Americans, the news outlets they say they trust the most are community newspapers.
Wisconsin is losing local news outlets at an alarming rate, with 19% of its newspapers closing in the past year. Even as distrust in the news media has grown in some circles, a new study shows people trust local newspapers the most compared to other types of news outlets.
In this polarized climate, Professor Robert Asen at the University of Wisconsin at Madison believes where people choose to get their news matters.
In the survey, 74% of Americans believe not having a local newspaper would seriously impact their community. Yet more than half of all counties in the United States have just one local news outlet – or none at all. Bayfield, Wisconsin’s northernmost county, has no news outlets, while 22 other counties have only one.
Asen said the rise in social media as an information source, and options such as podcasts and talk radio shows, have greatly affected how people choose to get their news – which also plays a role in how accurate it is. A recent review of radio talk shows in Wisconsin found those with the largest audiences and the most advertising are led by conservative hosts who aired the most misinformation.
“When you look at public discourse and you look at public figures, and you see examples of a disregard for truth – or disregard for verifying stories, or disregard for fair and accurate representations – I think that those practices encourage more of the same practice,” Asen observed.
No comments:
Post a Comment