Three Things for the week of October 5, 2020
Three items from journalism, media and the nonprofit sector worth noting.
Political Divides, Conspiracy Theories and Divergent News Sources Heading Into 2020 Election
As the nation heads toward Election Day in the midst of a persistent pandemic and simmering social unrest, a new Pew Research Center survey finds that Americans’ deep partisan divide, dueling information ecosystems, and divergent responses to conspiracy theories and misinformation are all fueling uncertainty and conflict surrounding the presidential election.
Report Predicts Five Years of Steep Global Decline for Newspaper Industry Revenue, Both Print and Online
PWC’s Media Outlook report looks at the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the newspaper industry and how quickly it can expect to rebound. Global newspaper advertising revenue is set to fall by $8 billion in 2020, and global circulation revenues are down by $6.5 billion from last year. The report predicts that global print revenues will continue to fall faster than digital growth can offset. More publishers are reporting that their subscription revenue, boosted by digital growth, has displaced advertising as their most significant revenue stream.
Most Americans Say News Outlets Don’t Talk About Where Their Funding Comes From
In a wide-ranging study on Americans’ attitudes toward the news media, 72% of Americans said that news organizations don’t do a good job at telling their audiences where their money comes from. Another 80% say that corporate and financial interests influence the news in some way, with 38% saying that these interests influence the news “a great deal.” Most Americans also say news outlets are opaque about conflicts of interest, how sources are chosen and whether a story is factual or opinion. When it comes to errors, 69% of Americans say that news outlets try to cover up their mistakes, but 51% say they feel more confident in a news organization when it issues an official correction to a story.