As someone in the media, the undeniable fact that people’s trust in journalism has eroded to levels traditionally reserved for telemarketers is pretty alarming. Of course, I’m barely media – “pop culture freelance columnist” sounds decidedly made-up – but as a citizen and someone who analyzes media for a living, the fact that many increasingly view the news with skepticism bordering on hostility is worrisome stuff.
That’s the theme of “Trusted Sources,” the hourlong documentary from director Don Colacino playing at Damariscotta’s ever-inviting Lincoln Theater on Thursday. Taking the long view of the history of print and TV (and now online) journalism in America, the film makes a studious, unflinching, yet ultimately almost hopeful case that the vital role of the free press in a functioning democracy isn’t yet completely doomed by greed, consolidation, the gutting of local news – or even demonization by opportunistic demagogues.
Helping me break down the issues is writer, podcaster, film reviewer and relatively recent Mainer Christine Merser, who’ll be moderating what’s sure to be a lively Q&A following the film with Maine journalists from papers in Boothbay, Bangor, Lewiston and Lincoln County.
“Trusted Sources” traces where that trust went.
“It used to just be network news,” said Merser. “We chose an anchor based on nothing but the way they talked, looked and made us feel. But there was no factual difference between that reporting.”
The film does explain why that uniformity of point-of-view wasn’t necessarily a good thing (while still far from representative of the entire population, diversity in newsrooms has helped), Merser also notes that the 24-hour news cycle, hyped and proliferated by the coming of cable and supercharged by social media, has a lot to do with how we consume information. Said Merser, “the competition now isn’t over the same news, but on what kind of serotonin rush it can give.”
“Trusted Sources” doesn’t spare news consumers, either.
Anyone with a social media feed is flooded daily with internet shares citing sketchy sources cherry-picked to support a position – or we’re the ones doing the sharing. That willingness to abandon due diligence when it comes to the news is one of the developments the film seeks to combat.
“The ability to manipulate has never been stronger,” said Merser, citing everything from the growth of A.I. to the proliferation of heat-seeking internet information peddlers. “There’s a call for vigilance to participate in the news in ways we never thought we had to.”
If you think Maine is immune to media manipulation, think again.
One of the main takeaways from”Trusted Sources” is that we’re conditioned – with good reason – to trust our local news more than national sources. “You see them at the drugstore,” Merser said of your local reporters and anchors.
And that’s all fine – if we remember that local news is increasingly being co-opted by the same huge corporations our Maine stubbornness is conditioned to distrust. Rules against media consolidation have all but disappeared, with agenda-driven, profit-focused corporations often becoming a region’s only news sources. If the film has a villain, it’s hedge fund company Alden Global, whose voracious gobbling of struggling local news outlets has led to skeleton crew newsrooms, incessant top-down meddling with coverage and even “news deserts,” where entire regions find themselves without on-the-ground local coverage of any kind.
In Maine, we have Sinclair Broadcast Group, the right-wing telecommunications conglomerate that owns TV news stations in Bangor (WPFO) and right here in Portland (WGME), and who routinely feeds their local affiliates slanted national stories intended to manipulate, rather than serve, viewers. (A “Last Week Tonight” exposé sees John Oliver showing dozens of miserable-looking local anchors reading out the same conservative script on a controversial topic, verbatim.)
For Merser, it’s all about one thing: “Follow the money.” Picking out a recent disparity in media coverage, Merser points to the lucrative engagement figures around guaranteed controversy and outrage versus substantive – if less flashy – public policy. “If you go online and everybody’s clicking on the Haitian situation as opposed to Kamala Harris’ just-released position paper on money for first-time homeowners, then that’s a reflection of the state of things.”
For better or worse, “Trusted Sources” never mentions the biggest modern purveyor of anti-media hostility.
As Merser and I discussed, director Colacino’s choice to never say Donald Trump’s name in the film shows admirable restraint – even if it undercuts some of the film’s immediacy. “Here’s the thing,” said Merser, herself a strategist for the Harris/Walz national campaign. “Donald Trump is a popular demon for the press, but the truth is, the film lays out that he’s just another name taking advantage of this moment in time.”
And while I’d offer some pushback that Trump’s open contempt and demonization of the press (who have an inconvenient habit of debunking obvious falsehoods, ideally) is unprecedented in America, Merser isn’t so sure. “Trump’s just the Marlboro man of that particular thing. If Donald Trump goes to prison tomorrow, it’s not going to change what’s happening. The film does a good job in saying, ‘Here’s how we got to this moment’ and works to make sure we don’t get caught up in the tsunami this time. As news consumers, we have to pick higher ground to stand on.”
The solutions aren’t simple, but they exist.
Both Merser and “Trusted Sources” conclude with some clear-eyed optimism – and some practical strategies. Subscribing to your trusted local paper is a good start, with Merser noting how her favorite Cape Cod paper was snapped up and all but destroyed by a corporate takeover. “They fire everyone and then wonder where all the readers have gone.”
The film directs viewers to nonprofit news outlets like ProPublica as also worthy of support, while pointing to media watchdog groups like The Trust Project and Ad Fontes Media to see whether your local news sources comply with rigorous journalistic standards. Checking for a clearly posted code of journalistic ethics on your favorite news site is also one way to screen what you disseminate online as well, a practice that Merser says is as vital as any in combating the insidiousness of misinformation and manipulation. “The bottom line is, if you’re a lazy person, the world is not going to get better for you. Do your due diligence.”
“Trusted Sources” is screening at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at The Lincoln Theater (2 Theater St., Damariscotta) followed by a discussion with local journalists moderated by Christine Merser. Tickets are $5; free for members of the media with ID, Lincoln Theater members and people 18 and under. To purchase, go to lincolntheater.net.
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