Katharina Buczek
It is no secret that Americans’ trust in the media has been declining for decades. Some people have sworn off consuming the news altogether, while others choose to solely read news produced by outlets that align with their beliefs.
Thousands of American journalists have been left stuck in the middle– either earning a bad rap as the bearers of bad news or carrying the weight of an unearned reputation due to a few bad apples.
And while they are the purveyors of our news, we rarely hear journalists’ outright opinions on the state of our first amendment rights or publicized criticisms of the news industry.
This past month, though, the Pew Research Center conducted two paramount surveys of journalists that give newsreaders an inside perspective.
The first, entitled “Journalists Sense Turmoil in Their Industry Amid Continued Passion for Their Work,” revealed that seventy-seven percent of journalists would “choose their career all over again” despite the often ridiculed perception of journalists.
Additionally, seventy-five percent of American journalists feel either “very” or “extremely proud” of their work. But, their passion for a free press does not elude their sense of insecurity in the industry.
About fifty-seven percent of respondents admitted to feeling either extremely or very concerned about possible future restrictions on press freedoms.
Moreover, in the wake of dying local newsrooms and a shortage of resources, seventy-two percent of journalists used negative words such as “struggling” and “chaos” to describe the current state of the news industry.
Furthermore, about seventy-one percent of respondents believe that made-up news and misinformation is an enormous problem in America.
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