As broadcasters navigate the final months of a contentious election season, being local has its advantages. Surveys have shown that Americans trust local outlets more than national media. But during the past several years, news executives say they’re seeing that gap erode — and that is leading to a greater focus on what local radio and television stations can do to maintain the trust they’ve long had with listeners and viewers.
“The environment we’re in is causing a lot of people to question everything,” said Sean McLaughlin, VP of News at Graham Media. On a webinar this week, he said that many consumers are just seeing the “news as the news,” with less of a differentiation between national and local outlets. “The way people consume content has changed so much that that’s not as clear as it used to be,” he said. “Because people have access to information that sometimes isn’t as high quality as they had in the past.”
The RTDNA commissioned a study last year about consumers’ trust in local news organizations. It found trust of local news by source is good, but not excellent, as 47% said they trust that their local news source is accurate. And 39% felt political coverage on local outlets is balanced and represents all sides.
The survey also showed that doubts are growing in the minds of many. Seven in ten (69%) said they occasionally had doubts about what they hear on the radio, which was up from 49% in 2022. Local TV had a similar trend, with the number expressing some doubts jumping from 43% in 2022 to 67% in 2023. Trust levels were even lower for social media and YouTube.
“In newsrooms across America there are journalists who are working every day to be balanced and be fair and be trustworthy. We are working towards that, but there is a disconnect,” said Tegna Senior VP of News Ellen Crooke. “We have to change some of the common things that we’ve already always do, because people are not believing that we are working that hard to be trustworthy.”
McLaughlin said the RTDNA survey showed him that local broadcasters have some work to do in their communities.
“One of the things that this survey says is we have an opportunity to reconnect with people, and we have to sort of take it on ourselves to get better and to serve our customers in a way that proves to them that we are balanced and represent all sides, and that we are accurate and correct,” he said. “To do this well, we have to prove it. The question we should be asking ourselves is, ‘How do we do that?’”
The survey showed some places to start. That includes focusing coverage more on what the community is worried about, not approaching stories from the politician’s perspective. Americans also want reporters to ask tough questions.
McLaughlin said their emphasis has been on community topics, not politicians’ agendas, but admits it can be hard to get beyond talking points. He said fact-checking is also increasingly a role local journalists need to take on. “The ability to fact-check in this environment, in a live setting, is really challenging, but sometimes really required,” he said.
Colin Benedict, VP of News at Morgan Murphy Media, said they’re also recommending reporters “show their work” and the sources they talked to, to boost their credibility with consumers. “A number of our newsrooms have built mission statements where they are explicitly telling the audience, this is how we’re going to approach political coverage, and they post it on their website,” he added.
Crooke said they also have had positive feedback from the audience when they disclosed who they spoke with. “It forces us to really make sure that our sources are diverse, and that they are people that can be trusted,” she said, seeing that transparency as a way to boost trust levels longer term.
Even with the challenges broadcasters are facing in today’s media environment, McLaughlin said there are reasons to be optimistic.
“This is the moment for local news operations,” he said. “People need us. We’ve established the role we play, and the role we play is clear. And in a growing number of communities, we’re the last ones left. Newspapers continue to shrink and are not able to do what they used to do.”
Benedict said one of the most reassuring things that came out of the RTDNA survey is that local consumers care deeply about journalism.
“They have issues with what we provide, and the manner in which it gets delivered,” he said. “But the desire to have quality information and understand the role of journalism in that is there across the country, and for me, that's that is heartening.”
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