Although the day-to-day work of journalists hasn’t changed since last week’s inauguration, there are early signs that they will have a less antagonistic relationship with the Biden administration than they did with the Trump administration, which limited access and called the work of many journalists “fake news.” Some journalists seemed almost giddy watching the new press secretary Jen Psaki answer questions from the podium in the press room while pledging to have regular press briefings on behalf of a president who vowed to “always level” with the American people in his Inauguration speech. Another early sign of media change was the day one resignation at President Biden’s request of Michael Pack, the Trump appointee who was criticized for trying to remove the firewall between management and its journalists at Voice of America.
Yet the country has a long way to go to find the unity the President talked about in his speech and to repair the damage to the reputation of journalism created during the Trump administration. I recently attended a webinar sponsored by Muck Rack, which explored the impact of politics and polarization on journalists and public relations professionals. It included the results of a study by the Center for Public Relations at USC Annenberg in which 1,450 journalists and communications professions and more than 800 members of the general public were surveyed. When asked if the polarization of opinion on social issues would change, 84% of journalists, 84% of the general public and 86% of public relations officials surveyed thought polarization will stay the same or increase.
The study also had some interesting findings about how journalists see their future. While more than three-quarters of journalists believe the credibility of the White House press corps will improve, only 27% think the credibility of the media will increase. When asked about credibility, Carrie Budoff Brown, Politics editor at Politico said it’s important to remind the public that the work of her staff remains the same no matter what administration is in charge. “We are a newsroom of journalists whose mission is to hold people in power into account and bring fact-based reporting to the world,” she said. “Our work does not change January 20.” She believes it’s important for all media outlets to make sure different opinions are heard to keep people from staying in their silos.
Public relations professionals surveyed predicted the trend toward conscious capitalism and social responsibility in companies will continue, with 70% predicting an increase in employee expectations of their company’s role in society, and 63% predicting an increase of consumer expectations of the role of business in society. According to the study, more companies are expected to release statements from their leaders about issues in the news, with public relations professionals surveyed believing 59% of companies will take a public stand on racial equality, 38% on gender equality, 32% on LGBTQ+ issues, and 26% on climate change.
The communications industry dramatically and detrimentally changed over the past four years. As both a public relations professional and a former journalist, I have always chosen words as my form of currency. It has broken my heart to see that currency devalued through the rise of terms like “fake news” and “alternate facts” that foster mistrust in what people read and hear.
Yet it is not beyond our ability to repair the damage and restore faith in the power of words to create positive change. It is up to everyone in the communications business to support ideas with unassailable facts in our messaging and to use our words wisely to motivate the media to cover the important work of our clients on issues that matter. We must encourage the businesses and nonprofits we represent to speak out, even when the topic is not in their immediate area of expertise. We must seek out alternate opinions and reach out to all audiences, not just those likely to be receptive to our viewpoint. It takes time and consistent effort to create a more unified and less divided world and communications professionals can be part of the solution.
