Rasmus Kleis Nielsen Profile picture
Sep 29, 2022 7 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Trust in news: the good, the bad, and the ugly - spoke about @risj_oxford Trust in News Project at #WNMC22

The GOOD news, from publishers' POV, is the "trust gap" between news in general and news on various platforms - news media stand out from just "stuff on the internet" 1/7
BAD news, in already difficult context facing political attacks, competition from platforms, & much more, is that negative perceptions are very widespread. Half or more of survey respondents say they think journalists try to manipulate the public to serve powerful politicians 2/7
UGLY news is that, when we talk to journalists trying to address low trust and overcome negative perceptions, the things they focus on (e.g. transparency, audience engagement) are very different from what audiences focus on (relevance, familiarity, reputation for integrity) 3/7
News publishers who want to build trust and overcome negative perceptions face some strategic and tactical choices, including WHO they focus on (deeping existing audiences' trust, broadening trust) and WHY (is trust end in itself, or a means to other ends, e.g. subscriptions) 4/7
Most publishers we interview want trust, but when asked what they do to build it, many mostly mention things they are already doing anyway - e.g. invest in original reporting, seperate news/opinion etc. Many aren't doing much specifically to build trust, so I ended w/some Qs 5/7
This is how I frame CHALLENGE (low trust, distrust, even hostility), OPPORTUNITY (many want to feel able to trust at least some news meda), and CHOICE (not clear business as usual gives them that) facing publishers who want to actively do something specifically to build trust 6/7
Trust in news project is led by @BenjaminToff, @amyross87 @camilambpp @sayanbpolitics and our former colleague @KhariBiskut, working w/@richrdfletcher and myself, supported by Facebook Journalism Project.

More about project and our published work here reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/trust-news-pro… 7/7

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More from @rasmus_kleis

Jun 17
2024 Digital News Report out now, documenting scale and scope of 'platform resets' and much more

Team effort by @nicnewman @richrdfletcher Craig Robertson @amyross87 and partners, covering 47 markets

Report

Follow #DNR24 A few highlights in thread 1/9reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-r…
Even as the % who say they get news via Facebook continues to decline, a range of other social, video, and messaging platforms are growing in importance for discovery, many focused on on-site video, visuals, and more private experiences. Challenging environment for publishers 2/9 Image
Generally, many of our respondents say they find it at least somewhat easy to tell trustworthy and untrustworthy news and information apart on various platforms, but there are real differences, with more concerned about how to navigate information on e.g. TikTok, X, Facebook 3/9 Image
Read 9 tweets
Mar 26
What might an AI-mediated information ecosystem look like?

Shuwei Fang @OpenSociety & @StructStories asked for scenarios. Mine, on interplay btw AI pragmatism, AI experimentalism, & AI incrementalism, draws on @risj_oxford research & more

Read here 1/14reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-news-…
My starting point? Public uptake will be one of the most important driving forces shaping the AI-mediated information ecosystem and, by extension, journalism & news media’s place in it. Demand is sometimes overlooked in discussions that tend to focus on actors on supply side 2/14
Extrapolating from public approach to previous digital technologies a likely approach might be "AI pragmatism", combination of (a) abstract concern about impact, (b) scepticism towards many of the institutions using AI, & (c) a practical appreciation of many AI applications 3/14 Image
Read 14 tweets
Feb 26
AI cannot reliably identify false news (let alone lies), despite what sales reps and boosters may claim. Too many false positives, false negatives, issues of bias, (let alone perceiving "entire meanings")

And governments are poorly placed to this work
1/4 ekathimerini.com/news/1232467/d…
Image
Because so much of the most potentially consequential misinfo, including false news and lies, is fundamentally political, there is real and perceived conflict of interests when govs' want to play role as arbiters of truth.

This is even more pronounced in low-trust contexts. 2/4
For years, experts have argued govs' and public authorities' most constructive role is indirect - convening whole-of-society responses and providing funding for independent fact-checkers, journalists, researchers, civil society

Not things like this 3/4digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/fin…
Read 4 tweets
Jan 16
"Avoiding the News: Reluctant Audiences for Journalism"

In book w/@BenjaminToff and @ruthiepalmer we ask why, in a world of abundant supply and unprecedented ease of access, millions of people avoid news

More from publisher @columbiaUP here

And in🧵 1/9 cup.columbia.edu/book/avoiding-…
Image
The social contract btw journalism and much of the public is fraying - news use is declining, interest in news down, avoidance widespread.

Based on surveys and 100+ interviews w/consistent news avoiders, we look at why, and what it means when people live largely without news 2/9 Image
We show that news avoidance is not “just” a response to the content on offer.

It is also fundamentally shaped by who we are, what we believe, and the tools we rely on.

It happens at the intersection between identity, ideology, and infrastructures, and compound inequalities. 3/9 Image
Read 9 tweets
Jan 3
Misinformation often comes from the top, including parts of the political elite

I wrote for the @FT about why I think we need to focus squarely on this as we head into a big election year

A few links in 🧵 below to evidence that has informed my view
1/7ft.com/content/5da527…
First, misinfo often comes from the top. Multiple studies have documented political actors' role, e.g @YBenkler et al , @jonathan_c_ong and @RossTapsell , @NeelanjanSircar and more (look at a history book!) 2/7global.oup.com/academic/produ…
doi.org/10.1080/012929…
theindiaforum.in/article/disinf…
Second, what is crucial is not volume but influence. As @hugoreasoning and others have pointed out, attempts at mass persuasion mostly fail! . But one thing that often influence people is elite cues from politicians they support 3/7press.princeton.edu/books/hardcove…
cambridge.org/core/books/nat…
Read 8 tweets
Oct 25, 2022
Journalists tend to "regard the statement "X said A" as a "fact," even if "A" is false." (See e.g. 'dirty bomb', '102 MPs')

Starting my remarks at #DISINFO2022 on why news media sometimes can end up disseminating disinfo with a quote from Gaye Tuchman journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.108…  1/6
Beyond inadverdently disseminating disinfo bcs of business-as-usual editorial practices, there are also parts of the media (e.g. some pundits, broadcast hosts) who are parts of what @sobieraj called "outrage industry" - even when working for news media global.oup.com/academic/produ…  2/6
Whether as sources (for news reporters), guests/subjects (for hosts and pundits), or important users and advertiseres (for platforms) - or just doing their own thing - some domestic political elites sometimes contribute to mis- and disinfo problems academic.oup.com/book/26406  3/6
Read 6 tweets

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