Trust Deficit Hits Press Platform

Lost in mounting piles of lies and poisoned by blatant propaganda, the press as a reliable public platform in even advanced democracies faces rapid erosion in its public credibility. Stray cases, even if deliberate, might be overlooked or excused with the benefit of doubt. This is, however, not so when media biases become too obvious and for too long. Today, more people are educated than any time in recorded history. They have many things to do and many options to turn to for information relevant to their first need. Thanks to technological breakthroughs, specialised information is offered in multiple channels, and with fast and easy access at the closing years of the first quarter of the 21st century.  

Media trust level is declining. No longer do they hold the level of awe and respect a large section of them used to draw in earlier decades. For instance, Americans’ trust in their media has sunk to a new low. A Gallup poll showed that 34 per cent of them repose a “fair amount” of confidence in the media whereas as many as 38 per cent have “no trust” at all in newspapers, TV and radio. According to the poll breakdown, 70 per cent of Democrats, 14 per cent of Republicans and 27 per cent of independents trust media.

Polarised public

The partisan divide between the Democrats and Republicans tells a story of eroding media position. More Republicans distrust the media than do the Democrats. But, irrespective of whether Democrats or Republicans, public distrust in the media has declined since the inception of the new century as far as a full, fair and accurate news reporting is concerned. Backed by annual surveys for many years, Americans in general trust their print and broadcast media at record low level today.  Only 29 per cent of listeners trust the British broadcasting outlet BBC and 24 per cent approve of The Wall Street Journal. 

The decline in the trust level is surely not an overnight development. Years of conceited comments and unprofessional reporting have taken their toll. In June, Britain’s Economist magazine designated Nicolas Maduro as “Venezuela’s autocrat president”. The New York Times the same month published a front page article berating a “thuggish” former United States President Donald Trump, who at the moment appears to be the most likely candidate to secure the Republican Party ticket for next year’s presidential election. 

Similar streak infects BBC, too. In a recent report, it described Trump’s speech as “a short speech full of vitriol”. The government-supported broadcasting agency generally does not target with such slant foreign leaders whose ties with their counterparts in the West are good. In this respect, Trump is an exception among top American leaders. CNN, of the Gulf War infamy emitted by the full-throated embedded journalism, is estimated to have lost 25 per cent of its peak prime time viewers in the recent times. The ground is clearly caving in for many a mighty media.

Reversing the trend is onerous, but nevertheless an essential exercise the sake of sheer survival and professional decency. The right way is often exacting whereas the key to an easier way can be expedient. News media need to reinvent themselves. India’s Chief Justice NV Ramana (1921-22) was unhappy over the media in his country running “kangaroo courts” on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide. He regretted ill-informed, biased and agenda-driven debates in the media on issues pending in courts are affecting justice delivery. “Print media still has certain degree of accountability. Whereas, electronic media has zero accountability as to what it shows vanishes in thin air.”  Does the press mirror society? It does and it does not. Projecting, patronising and promoting an image for commercial, publicity or falsifying or creating a myth is an attempt at concealing something for building an impression far from the truth.

Lost in rhetoric

The individual hailed lavishly yesterday could be dumped as a hot potato or dirt to be distanced. If wrongly disparaged and damaged, history is bound to correct the course and offer the victim a rightful place. Patriotic press tolling partisan bell does not synchronise with the expected role of professional service rendered to the public. Be aware, accelerated propaganda presages war—first as disinformation for long term strategies, planting the false, distorting the truth and reacting to the information according to their needs and ambitions.

A century before the German and Italian unifications, Prithvi Narayan Shah is said to have sent many scores of disguised propagandists to Kathmandu Valley to lower the morale of the local rulers and their coterie who faced a loudly disgruntled people bearing the burden of the economic blockade the Gorkha leader imposed. Tom Fowdy, a British writer and analyst of international relations, comments: Chinese- and Russian-funded journalism is “disinformation”, but when Washington spends millions on “independent” news outlets and buying journalists to get favourable coverage of its policies, it’s called “spreading information”. 

The US Senate in 2021 gave approval to an anti-China bill titled the “Strategic Competition Act”.  The new measure allocated $300 for media onslaught against China. Its open objective was to focus on the “negative impact” of China’s $1 trillion-plus Belt and Road Initiative in participating countries, “anti-Chinese influence” programmmes, and a scheme to “train journalists” with the goal of countering Beijing. 

In June, the life-size sculpture of Julian Assange together with the whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, all standing atop chairs, was veiled. Beside the figures rests an empty chair, inviting members of the public to stand alongside the trio. The sculpture was displayed in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Belgium, Serbia and Australia. 

WikiLeaks’ founder, Assange was charged in 2019 with conspiring to hack into a military computer. Manning, a former intelligence, leaked hundreds of thousands of military records and diplomatic cables in 2010. She was given a 35-year sentence, but was given conditional release after serving seven years in prison. In 2013 Snowden, a National Security Agency contractor, disclosed information about the US government’s highly dubious surveillance of the digital communications of millions of Americans. He subsequently fled to Russia seeking asylum. 

Lack of consistency and absence of uniformity when reporting on sensitive issues erodes the image and reputation of news outlets. The Ukraine war since February 2022 is a textbook example of how propaganda practices dis-inform not just local but global publics. Were things to be left as it is, the media are destined to suffer being taken non-seriously by most people in the days ahead. 

(Professor Kharel specialises in political communication.)