Support Independent Media and Journalists
"Freedom of the press is essential to the preservation of a democracy; but there is a difference between freedom and license. Editorialists who tell downright lies in order to advance their own agendas do more to discredit the press than all the censors in the world."
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
Facts
- Both civil society and democracy can only flourish where pluralism and content diversity of the media is guaranteed; for that purpose it needs free and independent professional journalists
- Press freedom helps to combat everyday corruption in business-state interactions
- Local newspapers are in decline in the US, with falling readership and decreasing levels of newsroom personnel
- Trust in the media, which has averaged 45% since 1997, has not reached the majority level since 2003
- Young people are more likely to turn to social media for information than older generations, though few in the younger age group said they trust social media “a lot” use online sources for information
- It is established that emotional appeal messages perform better on social media than rational appeal
- Trust-reducing social media messages are not contained to social media platforms; they are widely recirculated by the mainstream media
Media Watchdogs, Organizations Protecting Journalists & Defending Freedom of Expression:
- International Federation of Journalists
- Amnesty International
- Reporters Without Borders
- International Freedom of Information Exchange
- International Press Institute
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- PEN International
- Courage Foundation
- FAIR (Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting)
- The Centre for Investigative Journalism
- Article 19
- Freedom of the Press Foundation
- The National Union of Journalists
Polls
- Americans' Trust in Media Dips to Second Lowest on Record (Gallup, 2021)
- Young people more likely to rely on social media, though few trust it 'a lot': poll (The Hill, 2021)
- Most Americans Think Social Media Sites Censor Political Viewpoints (Pew Research Center, 2020)
- Americans Who Get News Mainly on Social Media Are Less Knowledgeable and Less Engaged (Pew Research Center, 2020)
"In all, 7% of U.S. adults say they have 'a great deal' and 29% 'a fair amount' of trust and confidence in newspapers, television and radio news reporting -- which, combined, is four points above the 32% record low in 2016, amid the divisive presidential election campaign between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In addition, 29% of the public currently registers 'not very much' trust and 34% have 'none at all.'"
― "Americans' Trust in Media Dips to Second Lowest on Record" (Gallup, 2021)
Academic Papers & Reports
- Index of US Mainstream Media Ownership | Harvard University
- Index of Emerging Nonprofit Media and Donors | Harvard University
- Press freedom and corruption in business-state interactions (2021)| Economic Systems
- Mainstream Media Recirculation of Trust-Reducing Social Media Messages (2021) | American Politics Research
- Local News and National Politics | American Political Science Review (2019)
- The Digital Architectures of Social Media: Comparing Political Campaigning on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat in the 2016 U.S. Election (2018) | Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
- Technology Firms Shape Political Communication: The Work of Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and Google With Campaigns During the 2016 U.S. Presidential Cycle (2017) | Political Communication
- The Impact of Media Concentration on Professional Journalism (2003) | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
"We find that technology firms are motivated to work in the political space for marketing, advertising revenue, and relationship-building in the service of lobbying efforts. To facilitate this, these firms have developed organizational structures and staffing patterns that accord with the partisan nature of American politics."
― from "Technology Firms Shape Political Communication: The Work of Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and Google With Campaigns During the 2016 U.S. Presidential Cycle," Daniel Kreiss & Shannon Mcgreggor (2018)
Articles
- Daniel LeDuc | PEW | The Loss of Local News (June, 2020)
- Victor Pickard | Jacobin | We Need a Media System That Serves People’s Needs, Not Corporations’ (January, 2020)
- Nancy Scola | The Hill |How Facebook, Google and Twitter 'embeds' helped Trump in 2016 (October, 2017)
- Anya Schiffrin | Columbia Journalism Review | Government and corporations hinder journalists with ‘media capture’ (August, 2017)
- American Press Institute | How people decide what news to trust on digital platforms and social media (April, 2016)
- Byron Tau | Politico | Obama campaign spends $6.7M on online advertising (April, 2012)
Videos
Noam Chomsky - The 5 Filters of the Mass Media Machine
Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model, Pt. 1: An In-Depth Explanation
The Empire Files: Propaganda & Engineering of Consent - Part 1
George Carlin - National Press Club
Edward L. Bernays interview, 1986-10-23