NewsGuard, a media-rating company that issues credibility ratings about news outlets, has sued the Federal Trade Commission to shut down an investigation into it, according to an AP News article. This lawsuit resulted from NewsGuard’s belief that the FTC, instructed by the Trump administration, was unfairly seeking to censor its media monitoring work.
The Badger Herald looked into the implications of the attack and the value of media monitoring more generally. Professor Andrew Trexler of the political science department, who spoke via email, said media monitoring organizations like NewsGuard can help citizens sort through a fragmented and easily-influenced media environment.
“Organizations like NewsGuard provide valuable information to the public by … assessing the credibility of a wide range of potential news sources,” Trexler said.
University of Wisconsin alumnus Charlie Gottlieb, who works in the media landscape, also said media monitoring organizations are important in a fragmented news ecosystem. Media monitoring can introduce transparency into the realm of news consumption by identifying subtle word choice, framing techniques and other methods indicative of bias, according to Gottlieb.
Gottlieb said the current media landscape creates uncertainty through the sheer number of available news sources and the role of political polarization, though an increasing number of people have elected to pursue hard and seemingly unbiased news.
“I do think there is a market for people who just want to be told what is going on,” Gottlieb said.
Assistant professor of journalism Tomás Dodds said news monitoring organizations can promote transparency in the media ecosystem but, that there is little scholarly evidence that demonstrates organizations like NewsGuard have a significant impact on how many people consume news from a specific outlet.
According to Trexler, the motivation behind the Trump administration’s hostility toward NewsGuard is the organization’s designation of certain conservative outlets as untrustworthy. Though any media organization can have biased or misleading information, research indicates that a large proportion of prominent false claims in the political landscape come from a few conservative-aligned groups, Trexler said.
The Trump administration’s decision to investigate NewsGuard is another example of an administration interested in curtailing speech it does not agree with, Gottlieb said. The Trump administration may argue that the depiction of news outlets as “biased” by media monitoring organizations like NewsGuard impacts the revenue of said outlets, according to Gottlieb.
Dodds also said the Trump administration’s treatment of NewsGuard is in line with its previous attacks on media outlets like CBS, The New York Times and more. The most dangerous consequence of the administration’s actions, regardless of the outcome of the suit, is the chilling effect it may have on other organizations, Dodds said.
“[The administration intends] to send a signal to the entire industry that if you dare to criticize — with or without arguments — the official line of narratives, you will be punished,” Dodds said.
Dodds also said even if monitoring groups like NewsGuard do not significantly influence consumer behavior, they nonetheless offer meaningful information for researchers and general knowledge. The censorship of NewsGuard could lead to a decline in accessible data concerning media transparency and bias, according to Dodds.
“Independent journalism … is essential for a functional democracy — constituents need credible information to participate effectively in the democratic process,” Trexler said.
Gottlieb said a successful censoring or limiting of NewsGuard would set a poor precedent for other media organizations who do not directly align with the president. If NewsGuard were to be somehow inaccurate in its assessments, a more pragmatic solution would be to encourage reform in a less aggressive manner, according to Gottlieb.
An aspect of journalism that should be more publicly discussed is the role algorithms and financing play in influencing the news, Gottlieb said. In this sense, according to Gottlieb, transparency is one of the largest media issues of our time.
“With the consolidation of all these major media outlets now, it’s really important to know who’s actually funding the journalism you’re reading,” Gottlieb said.
As for how students at UW and elsewhere can encourage the continued independence of journalism, Gottlieb said they should first support outlets they believe are transparent while fostering a balanced media diet. Then, according to Gottlieb, students can support media independence by financially supporting those outlets they view as genuinely trustworthy.
Somewhat similarly, Dodds said students should be aware of the financial costs of journalism and should therefore be willing to financially support their favorite outlets. According to Dodds, the importance of citizen funding is especially important for smaller, independent outlets, especially when federal or corporate funding is currently erratic.
“If there are journalistic projects that you feel passionate about, you should support them,” Dodds said.
