It was easier to figure out what news sources to trust when I was growing up in Chicago. You could read the Chicago Tribune or the Sun-Times. You could watch the local news on WGN or tune into one of the network news channels. Newspapers published their opinions on the editorial pages or in clearly labeled commentaries, and all worked to get their facts right.
But now? Think about how we consume news in our digital age: largely through our individual screens, from fragmented sources across social media. Think about the young people in your life. Where do they get their news? How do they know where to turn for information they can trust?
We are facing a news literacy crisis. We are awash in content, from promoted posts, to user-generated videos and punditry meant to persuade rather than inform. Misinformation and disinformation lurk everywhere, helped along by bots, trolls and artificial intelligence and promoted by foreign agents. And too often, such content gets a boost from Americans who should know better.
As all this questionable content proliferates, local newspapers close at a rate of more than two per week.
In this information world, it has become exceedingly difficult to find credible news — the vetted facts that we all need to make informed decisions about our lives and communities that are the foundation of our democracy. Without the ability to find reliable information and verifiable facts, public trust in our institutions continues to fall.