Book Argues Declining News Media Trust Is Beneficial

A new book published by Routledge, titled "Mainstream News Media Trust: Antecedents, Consequences, and Remedies," edited by Nayla Fawzi, Jesper Strömbäck, and Yariv Tsfati, explores the multifaceted nature of trust in news media. The collection of essays aims to "analyze and take stock of what we currently know and what we don’t know about the concept of news media trust." A significant chapter within this volume, authored by media scholar Michael Schudson and provocatively titled "Three Cheers for Declining Trust in the News Media," presents a counter-narrative to widespread concerns about eroding public confidence in journalism. Schudson argues that historical doubts about the press predate the digital age and have surfaced during periods of both polarized and non-polarized politics. He posits that the steady decline in media trust observed in the United States since 1970 has been largely misinterpreted, fueling anxiety among journalists and commentators. This period of declining trust has coincided with a profound transformation in leading news institutions, the full impact of which remains unacknowledged. The book highlights that dissatisfaction with journalism, both from within the industry and from the public, grew significantly in the 1960s. This era saw the rise of critiques against what became known as "he said, she said" journalism, "false balance," or "bothsidesism." Scholars have documented that since the 1960s, news coverage has become more in-depth, investigative, and has increasingly prioritized the goal of "holding government accountable" and "speaking truth to power." Over the past six decades, mainstream media has not only maintained its commitment to fact-centered reporting and verification but has also more explicitly embraced the public service function of scrutinizing government, a value now considered as important as the ideal of "objectivity." The book acknowledges a substantial body of literature dedicated to the issue of media trust, but Schudson's chapter offers a novel perspective by suggesting that a decline in trust might not be an unmitigated negative. Instead, it could encourage a more critical and engaged citizenry, prompting news organizations to be more rigorous and accountable in their pursuit of truth and their role in a democratic society. The entire book is made available online for free, allowing broader access to these scholarly discussions on the evolving relationship between the public and the news media.