Broken Media? Restoring Trust in News Coverage. Mark Sappenfield, Story Hinckley

Let's Find Common Ground

USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future

News, Trump, Opinion, Usc, California, Polls, Debates, Strategists, University, Education, Government, Universitysoutherncalifornia, America, Presidential, Dornsife, Bipartisanship, School, Democrat, Primaries, Elections, Shrum, Primary, News Commentary, Republican, Analysis, General, Polarization, International, Journalists, Federal, Commentary, Election, National, Conversation, Race, Centerpoliticalfuture, Conversations, Murphy, Moderator, Political, Coverage, Biden, Podcast, Politics

5 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2023

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The United States has one of the highest news avoidance rates in the world. Tens of millions of Americans don’t read, watch or listen to the news each day. The media is generally held in low regard. So, is there a better way to report and analyze current events that will satisfy readers’ interests? In this repeat episode, we hear from Mark Sappenfield, Editor of The Christian Science Monitor, and Story Hinckley, the paper's National Political Correspondent. We’re re-releasing this podcast as the 2024 campaign begins to gather pace — a time when many news outlets have amped up their coverage speculated about winners and losers, and put additional emphasis on the nation’s deep partisan divides. We discuss evolving news values with the Monitor and how reporters and editors are striving to highlight constructive solutions that unite rather than divide. We also hear about election coverage and why the media need to challenge readers, build trust, and report the news truthfully.

Transcript

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0:00.0	America has one of the highest news avoidance rates in the world.
0:04.3	Many millions of people have switched off.
0:06.8	They don't read, watch, or listen to the news each day.
0:10.4	Most people either totally distrust or have a skeptical view of the news media.
0:15.5	So is there a better way to report and cover the news?
0:19.3	That's the focus of this episode, which we first recorded and released last fall,
0:25.1	just before the midterm election.
0:27.6	This is Let's Find Common Ground. I'm Richard Davies.
0:36.3	And I'm Ashley Melntite.
0:38.4	Our guests are Mark Sappenfield, editor of the Christian Science Monitor,
0:42.4	and story-hinkly, the paper's national political correspondent.
0:47.0	As the 2024 campaign ramps up, many news outlets will amp up their coverage
0:53.2	and put additional emphasis on red versus blue.
0:56.6	We discuss why the Christian Science Monitor has put a recent focus on values
1:01.7	that drive news coverage.
1:03.6	How its reporters and editors are working to highlight
1:07.0	constructive solutions that unite rather than divide.
1:12.4	Late last October, we asked Mark Sappenfield,
1:15.6	how is the monitor's coverage of politics different from the usual media focus on winners and losers?
1:22.7	As it might imagine, I've been thinking about that quite a bit recently.
1:26.0	I was just reading an article about exactly that,
1:28.3	about how the media covers politics.
	...

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