Oxford Senior Research Fellow Benjamin Toff will help set the stage for a series of conversations about rebuilding trust in media in an age of disinformation at CNPA’s annual conference next Jan. 31-Feb. 2. Toff leads the Trust in News Project at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Registration for the two-day CapCon2023 is now open capcon2023.com.
The Trust in News Project involves both qualitative and quantitative research, and ongoing engagement with journalists and other stakeholders. Its goal is to understand what drives trust for audiences in different contexts, and to identify evidence-based recommendations for publishers and platforms.
The project focuses on trust in news both online and offline in the U.S., U.K., India and Brazil: global markets that account for more than 1 billion users and a wide range of media systems and democratic contexts.
In their latest report, Toff and his colleagues examine the relationship between trust in news and how people think about news on Facebook, Google, WhatsApp and YouTube, some of the most widely used platforms around the world.
According to this report, there is a “consistent ‘trust gap’ between how much people ... trust information in the news media in general and how much they trust news found via these digital companies, which they tend to be more skeptical towards. We find such gaps though considerable majorities still hold positive feelings towards the platforms themselves.”
Toff, who received his doctorate in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University, is one of several leading authorities that CNPA has assembled to tackle the question of declining trust in mainstream media and how to reverse it.
“Large segments of the public see a host of ‘big problems’ associated with digital platforms,” the Trust in News Project asserts in its recent report, “ranging from false and misleading information to harassment to concern over data being used irresponsibly.
“Of course, not all platforms are viewed in the same way,” they write. “In the U.K. and the U.S., such concerns were especially concentrated around Facebook...”
The Reuters Institute Digital News Report shows just 26% of Americans say they can trust most news most of the time. This is one of the lowest levels in the world.
Opinion polls by U.S. researchers reveal confidence in newspapers and television news has plummeted to an all-time low. Gallup has reported that just 16% of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers.
“Having Dr. Toff on our program brings a data-driven perspective to the deliberations of our conference attendees,” said CNPA President and CEO Charles Ford Champion II. “Interestingly, he is developing manuscripts for books on the growing phenomenon of ‘news avoidance’ and the role played by public opinion surveys in coverage of politics in the U.S., subjects that directly impact confidence in mainstream news.”
CapCon2023 will take place from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in Sacramento, California. In addition to Toff, former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr is slated to appear at the conference.
About CNPA:
CNPA is a non-profit trade association representing daily and weekly California newspapers and digital news media. Its mission is to protect and serve the common interests of news media so that they can deliver democracy using the highest ideals, ethics and traditions of journalism to inform their communities. Learn more at: https://cnpa.com/
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