It was an unexpected line in a conversation from a potential PR client:
“We’re going to want some news coverage. I don’t believe any of that anymore, but we’re going to want it.”
But maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised when he said it to me a few weeks ago. The trends sure point in that direction and it feels like they’re here to stay.
The latest data from the Gallup organization is something everyone who works in media, PR or any related field should read. Here it is.
Simply put: Americans say they don’t trust much these days but they say really don’t trust traditional media. In fact, only eight percent say they trust what they read, hear and see in the news “a great deal.” While it wasn’t tested, it’s frighteningly easy to imagine that somehow, paid “influencers” on social media videos are trusted more.
There are a lot of reasons for this that I could write about much more than you’d be willing to read. But it’s important to note that this is grounded, very simply, in perception and politics. As someone who has spent every day of the past 30 years either working in or with news organizations, there is no change en masse in the fundamental objectives that reporters and editors seek, especially on the local level. But in the midst of the noise of social media and opinion-driven TV networks and websites, it’s impossible for would-be news consumers to sort it all out and be fulfilled at the same time.
Importantly, this Gallup survey should be a wake-you-up-in-the-middle-of-a-relaxing-slumber alarm. We are all working within this trend and the better we understand it, the better chances of actually continuing with our life’s work will actually be. We are all facing extinction and we are all in it together.
Here are some things to consider, for the PR side anyway, as we ponder how to operate in this challenging environment.
-How we operate matters. If we are just “throw it out in the email and see what sticks” peddlers of propaganda, we do nothing to help anyone’s trust level.
-We should help journalists build trust, by building understanding and fulfilling their commitment to their audiences. If we are gatekeepers, not door openers, we don’t actually accomplish anything in that direction.
-Language matters. In the social media era, so much of what we do involves statements and stilted, cliched language strongly implies that something is being hidden from audiences. When that makes it into news stories, it helps the credibility of nobody involved.
Gallup gave us our wake-up call. It’s up to us not to hit snooze.