Latest news with #InnovationtoRestoreTrustinNews:ANationalSummit
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Media Executives Gather In D.C. As News Industry Faces Existential Questions
In 1972, in the midst of the Watergate scandal, Gallup first polled Americans to gauge their trust in the media. 68 percent said they did. Four years later in 1976, that rose to 72 percent. Gallup still asks that question of consumers, and trust in media is now at an all-time low of 31 percent, a slow burn that has been ongoing for decades. More from The Hollywood Reporter NBC News Developing Subscription Video Service Max Pulls CNN and Sports From Ad Tier in Streaming Pivot Lester Holt to Step Down as Anchor of 'NBC Nightly News' So it's fitting that it was inside Gallup's Washington D.C. headquarters that a cavalcade of media executives and on-air talent held forth to try and figure not only why America's trust in media has eroded, but what they can do to reverse that trend. The Gallup building hosted Semafor's Innovation to Restore Trust in News: A National Summit, with Semafor co-founders Ben Smith and Justin Smith and media editor Max Tani grilling guests about the sorry state of affairs. It also doubled as a meeting of media reporters (The New York Times had a veritable delegation of journalists in the room), where it seemed that nearly every journalist that covers the beat was furiously taking notes during the talks, and commiserating about the sorry state of affairs at the cocktail party. It also kicked off with something of a bang, as CNN CEO Mark Thompson opened his conversation with Tani by saying that no, he does not trust the media. 'I think where I differ from quite a few people, certainly in legacy media, is I think I'd rather have a questioning audience than a compliant audience, which is kind of deferential to media,' Thompson said. 'I think we should use a box of Kleenex to dry our eyes about the loss of trust, and think about how we rebuild in some ways a more adult relationship. Instead of thinking of the audience as sheep who need to be trusting and believe everything we say, accept that they are challenging group of people that we need to raise our game to connect to.' To that end, Thompson and others in attendance argued that the 'age of deference,' as Gallup perhaps found in the 1970s, is likely not coming back, and that more uncertainty is likely in the near-term amid the 'digital democratization and also disruption of deference in politics' continues to swirl. Or, as NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde said, media is at an 'inflection point,' and the industry needs to adapt accordingly. Or as former Fox News host turned podcaster Megyn Kelly quipped: '[The media] did this to itself, it was a travesty, I watched it happen.' 'To some extent, its sad, because I am formerly of legacy media and I am sad that it has decided to go this way,' she added, though her criticism seemed to be focused on the biases of those that produce news. 'I think the country would be better off if we had the old version of CNN, and the original version of MSNBC.' So, what can the media do? Maybe being more dispassionate is one part of the equation. 'Distance is always useful when you are a journalist or an editor,' says Wall Street Journal editor in chief Emma Tucker. 'If people are switching away from the news, and they don't trust it, then it is on us to win that trust back. We are very clear when we approach stories that we are observers, we are not participants.' 'What I think more people need to do, and that I have tried to do, is take the emotion out of it, take the emotion out of covering the news,' added Fox News anchor Bret Baier. 'And I think over time, over the years, that has become a problem. Some people got emotional about it, and lost a big portion of their audience.' Or perhaps more transparency is what the audience needs. In the 1970s, Walter Cronkite was the 'voice of God,' but today perhaps being honest with your audience about your point of view, or how you are learning about what you are writing about, could help a news brand stand out. The audience, as Thompson noted, may prefer to be more engaged with the news. 'Having individual beat reporters speak to you directly as readers, viewers, explaining to them what they're working on and how they're working on it … getting to know the bylines,' New York Times editor Joe Kahn said. 'Those are all part of trust.' 'We keep talking about how to ensure that we are trusted, it's actually trust your audience, they are smart people,' adds NPR CEO Katherine Maher. Or maybe news outlets can lean into one part of the media that has more effectively retained a level of trust from the audience: Local news. 'One thing that we can proactively do as a profession, is that we have to invest in local journalism,' Conde said. 'The backbone of our business is our local TV stations. That is a huge competitive advantage for us.' 'We have 200 newsrooms across the country, nearly 3,000 local journalists, and every quarter we sit down with the heads of those newsrooms and we say, 'What's on the docket? What are the people in your community interested in?' so that we're really being much more responsive to that,' Maher said. 'To me that is the absolute defining difference of NPR. What are the people in your community interested in.' And then there's the news. Just the facts reporting has its share of challenges, but even Kelly says that she relies on journalists in the field to provide the facts that can inform her monologues. And there are early signals that we are in a boomtime for news. 'News is good for business,' Kahn said. 'And Trump, as we know from this first month, is the most newsmaking person to occupy the Oval Office I've ever seen.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter How the Warner Brothers Got Their Film Business Started Meet the World Builders: Hollywood's Top Physical Production Executives of 2023 Men in Blazers, Hollywood's Favorite Soccer Podcast, Aims for a Global Empire
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Here's the Roundup for the Week Ending February 28
This week's edition of stories we didn't get to for one reason or another goes out to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who is making a lot of news since his recent appointment. Carr revealed his plans for local TV stations during the Innovation to Restore Trust in News: A National Summit hosted by digital news outlet Semafor in Washington, D.C. Click here for their story. Variety also covered it and reported that Carr aims to "re-empower" local TV stations, and he suggested that Congress consider tighter regulations on content moderation processes for social media giants. Click here for that story. We dug up the video of Carr's conversation with Semafor co-founder and editor-in-chief Ben Smith. Here's the video of the interview: Some of what Carr said seemed to signal that the FCC is looking at how the networks influence what happens at the affiliate level. "One thing that's been the guide-star through the FCC's public interest standard is localism – serving the needs of your local community,' said Carr. 'Again, we've gotten so much national news media, coming down from these national programmers into the local communities. I think I want to re- empower local news, local sports. I think that's a good thing." He also seemed to believe that he is righting the wrongs of previous administrations through his recent actions. Carr has looked into CBS News' 60 Minutes and its interview of Vice President Kamala Harris that aired last October. A right-wing law firm also filed a complaint with the FCC against WCBS-TV New York for airing the 60 Minutes episode. One of Carr's first acts after becoming FCC chairman was to reinstate the WCBS complaint that had been dismissed along with three others by his predecessor, Biden appointee Jessica Rosenworcel. He's also looked into a San Francisco radio station KCBS over its coverage of ICE Raids and has launched an investigation into NBC owner Comcast for its DEI policies. In addition, three senators have written a sternly worded letter to Carr and Commissioner Nathan Simington, saying the Trump Administration is "weaponizing its authority over broadcasters and public media for political purposes." When asked about it, he flipped the narrative and said that he was the one restoring objectivity to the commission. "We're coming out of a period, in my view, where there was a lot of weaponization at the FCC. Your last name dictated the FCC treatment," he said referring to the Republican's favorite rich guy, George Soros. Carr also spoke about Elon Musk's outsized role in the government and seemed to assure folks that he would be fair. In response to Musk's Starlink seeking to expand its role in providing high-speed internet to rural areas, Carr said that "if Starlink or Musk is pushing an issue and he's right 100% of time, at the FCC, we're going to side with him 100%. If he's pushing issues and he's wrong every single time, then he's going to lose every single time at the FCC."
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
FCC Chief Brendan Carr Wants to ‘Re-Empower' Local TV Stations and Consider Tighter Regulation of Social Media Giants
FCC chairman Brendan Carr said Thursday that he aims to 're-empower' local TV stations, and he suggested that Congress consider tighter regulations on content moderation processes for social media giants. Carr spoke at the 'Innovation to Restore Trust in News: A National Summit' event hosted by digital news outlet Semafor in Washington, D.C. Ben Smith, Semafor co-founder and editor-in-chief, pressed Carr on what critics fear is Carr's determination to use the power of the FCC to intimidate the news organizations. More from Variety FCC Probes iHeartMedia Following Accusations of Payola Law Violations FCC Chairman Launches Probe Into Comcast and NBCU DEI Practices, Says He Is 'Concerned' They May Be 'Promoting Invidious Forms of Discrimination' FCC Chief Brendan Carr Says Trump 'Has Been Right' on Media Bias Claims Amid CBS Probe; Anna Gomez Decries 'Chilling Effect' and 'Weaponization' of Agency Carr asserted that the FCC in recent decades has backed off of its obligation to ensure that broadcast TV and radio stations operate in the public interest. In his first few weeks in the role of chairman, Carr roiled the journalism world by probing CBS News' '60 Minutes' and its interview of Vice President Kamala Harris that aired last October. President Donald Trump has a pending lawsuit against CBS, accusing '60 Minutes' of manipulating Harris' interview to benefit the then-Democratic presidential candidate at his expense. A right-wing law firm also filed a complaint with the FCC against WCBS-TV New York for airing the '60 Minutes' episode. One of Carr's first acts after becoming FCC chairman was to reinstate the WCBS complaint that had been dismissed along with three others by his predecessor, Biden appointee Jessica Rosenworcel. Earlier this month, CBS News complied with Carr's request that it publicly release the full video of its interview sessions with Harris. Given the theme of the conference, Carr stressed that polls show the most Americans have a low level of trust in mainstream media. 'If you look at the national news media, that's where there's a lot of lack of trust. But if you separate it to the level that's actually regulated by the FCC — local broadcasters — people actually trust their local broadcasters. They trust their local journalists. They see them at the post office, at the grocery store. So one thing I'm trying to do is re-empower the local broadcasters to feel like they have the freedom to serve their local communities, because they have these relationships with the national programmers that I don't think is entirely healthy. So I want to re-empower those local broadcasters to serve the public interest.' Carr's remarks raise the specter of the FCC probing the Big Four broadcast networks' business relationship with their affiliate stations throughout the country. Carr and Smith concurred that there is little consensus on the definition of how broadcasters best serve the public interest 'One thing that's been the guide-star through the FCC's public interest standard is localism – serving the needs of your local community. Again, we've gotten so much national news media, coming down from these national programmers into the local communities. I think I want to re- empower local news, local sports. I think that's a good thing.' Carr was pressed on actions that he's taken that appear to be targeting outlets that have been roundly criticized by President Trump, including CBS News, NPR and PBS. Carr turned the question around to assert that he's the one dedicated to restoring objectivity to the FCC. 'We're coming out of a period, in my view, where there was a lot of weaponization at the FCC. Your last name dictated the FCC treatment,' he said. Carr cited recent activity by the commission involving an $800 million FCC contract that had been awarded to Elon Musk's Starlink high-speed internet firm to extend service in rural areas but was revoked. Meanwhile he asserted that billionaire investor George Soros – a frequent target of the far right – had been afforded 'a special Soros shortcut' to buy 200 radio stations. Asked about the extraordinary power that Musk now wields in the Trump administration, Carr asserted the Tesla and SpaceX mega-billionaire will get no special treatment. 'If Starlink or Musk is pushing an issue and he's right 100% of time at the FCC, we're gonna side with him 100% of the time. If he's pushing issues, and he's wrong every single time then he's gonna lose every single time at the FCC. We're just gonna give everybody a fair shake.' Carr sounded the alarm about the influence of social media platforms that have enormous influence but little regulatory oversight compared to broadcast TV and radio stations. Carr's comments echo complaints from Trump and others that conservatives have been targeted for censorship. More recently with Trump's return to the White House and Musk's takeover of Twitter (now known as X), the dynamic has changed for right-wing voices. 'The greatest threat that we have seen over the last several years really has come from large social media companies that have amassed incredible amounts of power. The social media companies got more power over more speech than any institution in history,' Carr said. 'What we saw them doing with that power was discriminating against viewpoints, and the government was involved. The government, particularly the Biden administration, was pressuring social media companies to shut down core political speech. … My position is we want more speech, not less.' Carr cited the 'asymmetrical regulatory obligations' imposed on traditional media versus new. 'When you look at Silicon Valley and social media, [they have] lots of power, and I think they used it in discriminatory way,' he said. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Grammy Predictions, From Beyoncé to Kendrick Lamar: Who Will Win? Who Should Win? What's Coming to Netflix in February 2025
