As part of our exploration of ways to restore trust in journalism, we conducted a series of interviews with Montana news consumers. We asked about sources they trust and sources they don’t, and what they think individual reporters or news organizations can do to foster trust.
While our sample size was too small to have any statistical significance, the answers we heard reflected many of the same reasons that have surfaced in other surveys for why consumers don’t trust the news, especially concerns about media bias and spin.
“There’s no such thing as pure news because writers and outlets always have some kind of opinion.”
–Tim (age 30)
“We’re almost beyond credible journalism, which is sad.”
–Ed (age 53)
We also asked Montana residents if journalists could do anything to earn back their trust. For some, the answer was “no,” but others said they just want journalists to ditch the spin and get back to the facts.
“Report both sides of an issue and not take sides.”
–Jeremy (age 45)
“It’s kind of too late at this point, because they’re biased. They have been for long time.”
–Nate (age 22)
“If the news media wanted to earn my trust back, I would want to see more honesty and less personal opinion.”
–Sue (age 70+)
“I don’t think there’s any way to make up for their mistakes or right their wrongs because it’s been like, ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ I don’t think you can recover as a brand from that many wrongs.”
–Aimee (age 37)
What makes news trustworthy?
Most and least trusted news sources
What readers want
About the trust interviews
