With the decline of the mainstream media in shaping our opinions and the gap it has left behind. Who fills that void to feed us, the consumer of news, with information?
In America, fewer adults follow the news than in 2016. In 2016, 51% of adults said they followed the news closely, but in 2023 the number fell to 38%. Over 65s follow the news the closest with 64%, then 50 to 64 with 46%, 30-49 with 27%, and 18 to 29 with just 19%. In the UK, almost half of all adults (46%) avoid reading the news. This is due to multiple factors, but I believe the main factor is the lack of trust in the mainstream media. The Digital News Report 2022 by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) found that trust in the UK media has declined to 34% as of 2022 from 51% in 2015. Fewer people get their news from television channels like the BBC, Fox, CNN, DW, CBC, and NBC because of the newfound lack of trust in the Mainstream Media. The aforementioned news platforms are either government-funded or owned by a media conglomerate. BBC, DW, and CBC are funded by the British, German, and Canadian governments, whereas CNN is owned by Warner Bros - a media conglomerate that also owns HBO and TNT Sports. NBC, on the other hand, is owned by NBCUniversal, another media conglomerate that also owns Universal Studios. Finally, Fox is owned by 21st Century Fox, which is owned by Disney and Rupert Murdoch. These private companies have a major influence over society as they control the spread of information. However, with the creation of social media, power has been placed in companies like Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Spotify, and TikTok. During the run-up to the 2020 American Presidential election, there were cases of suppression by Twitter and Facebook regarding a story by the New York Post on Hunter Biden's Laptop and stories relating to Joe Biden's association with Burisma (a Ukrainian gas company) and how he leveraged Ukraine aid to oust Ukraine's top prosecutor, Victor Shoikin. Such a story, being suppressed until after the election, shows us that who owns the media plays a major role in shaping public opinion. With the rise of AI deepfakes, it is easier to lie to people, and with social media algorithms attempting to keep you on their platform for as long as possible, you are almost certain to end up in an echo chamber of people who agree with you, and not being able to listen to the other side of the story and come to your conclusion. Social media censorship, algorithms, and ownership mean people cannot come to their conclusions and are instead fed them. Independent journalists who are not influenced or dependent on these conglomerates are becoming ever more popular as they give a breath of fresh air to viewers who want to hear the honest opinions and beliefs of different people and not be told what those opinions are by a company whose only goal is to make a profit, gain influence and power.
The decline of news consumption from mainstream conglomerates and growing dependence on social media has impacted societal decisions, like elections, by giving universal information access with only an internet connection. Such access means people will have knowledge they would have never been able to access before. Social media ownership controls the flow of information through their algorithms, which can (and have been) biased and selective. Therefore, it is necessary to seek independent sources and listen to a broad range of opinions to come to your own conclusion. Social media offers freedom from the mainstream media in the sense that information is not completely omitted and you can hear other, regular, people's opinions. In comparison, mainstream media is scripted and rarely provides opposing views.
Written by Frederick Gilbert-Hodd, Year 9