U-Talk: How much do you trust national and local news media?
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- Jade Russell
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- Jared Golden
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- Michelle Green
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- Joe Smith
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- Jorge Lemus
Editor’s note: U-Talk is a weekly feature in which we ask five local residents to tell us their thoughts about a particular issue. Responses may be edited for clarity and length.
“I do not. … The partisanship of it, Fox News is trying to make everyone scared, and CNN is trying to make everyone scared. I don’t know much about local news. I don’t read newspapers. I get all my news from YouTube. I know that Associated Press is nonpartisan, The Washington Post too. Like I said, I get all my news from YouTube mainly.” — Jade Russell, Ogden
“I think trust is a strong word. I think all publications have a bias, and that is important to keep in mind and account for it. Weighing where they stand ideologically is important to be aware of it. News media has power, so with smaller news sources, or local news sources, it is just a smaller version of the national news outlets. You have to account for that power and how it changes things with the news.” — Jared Golden, Ogden
“I don’t watch much news media at all. … I would say I do not trust national news media at all if it is just a generalized question. And I would say I trust local news media. I think that, for me, this wasn’t a deep thought, it was just a feeling. If you ask me, ‘Do you trust national news media,’ immediately I would say no, that is my initial response. But when I hear ‘local,’ for some reason I am instantly thinking, ‘Well, yeah, I trust it,’ because there are things that I can look around and actually see. … Like if I see an accident and later see some coverage of it, or if I hear of a new restaurant that is opening and then I see that restaurant, maybe that’s why I am more trusting of local news media.” — Michelle Green, Ogden
“I feel like we don’t have any choice but to trust them because we have been dictated to all of our lives. They say, ‘Oh, this is the sun,’ we don’t question that. So why would you question the news? It is all entertaining to me. It is there to tell you what’s going on all around the world. It is just reporting, and they are just giving you a broader way to communicate now. I think it is a give-give and comes down to how we process and how much we research. And for me that goes for all news.” — Joe Smith, Clearfield
“Well, if we are talking trust, it has to be based on the level of importance of the news that they put out. I have to say that it is down to my having 10% trust, or something near that. … I would say that goes for both national and local levels. They do not give enough news that impacts the average person. They can talk about hyperinflation, but I do not trust the numbers because it is not emphasized enough, both nationally and locally, and that is just one example.” — Jorge Lemus, Ogden
Photos and interviews by Adam Rubin, Special to the Standard-Examiner.
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