Journalists say the fake news epidemic isn’t improving, they also don’t know how to fix it, new study finds

As “fake news” continues to plague journalism — and arguably, democracy itself — journalists are pessimistic that their own efforts, self-policing by Big Tech and government efforts are enough to turn the tide, according to a new study released yesterday by strategic communications firm Greentarget.

In Fake News 2021, Greentarget surveyed more than 100 journalists, 35 percent of whom have worked in the profession for more than 20 years. It’s the second edition of the report, the first of which was released just days before the 2020 presidential election. But journalists’ optimism when it comes to fake news hasn’t changed much despite last year’s contentious political system fading into history.

Instead, 2021 has been a year in which facts around COVID-19 vaccines have been fodder for intense political debate. That’s likely part of the reason why journalists were about as pessimistic about fake news — broadly defined as misinformation and disinformation — as they were a year ago and why they think the term itself is overly political and doing harm to their profession.

“With the term ‘fake news’ so widely weaponized and disinformation and misinformation so common in everyday life, it’s hard to say how much of this year’s results reflect standard journalist cynicism or correctly gauge a very urgent threat,” said Betsy Hoag, Greentarget’s director of research and planning, and Paul Wilson, vice president of content and editorial. “Journalists also certainly aren’t bullish about any of the methods available to combat fake news — but we think it’s critical that something, or perhaps many ‘somethings,’ be done for the sake of our democracy.”

Fake News: 2021’s top findings

• How fake news hurts journalism: 84 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the term “fake news” is contributing to the delegitimization of traditional journalism and news sources.

• Muddying of the term itself: 41 percent of journalists noted that when they hear the phrase “fake news,” it’s referring to traditional/qualified news sources, compared to 38 percent who said it relates to actual fake news.

• Journalists’ take responsibility to vet fake news. Still, their efforts might not be enough: Like last year, journalists believe they, more than any other group, have an ethical responsibility to vet fake news and identify misleading information. In fact, the percentage of respondents who said it was journalists' responsibility increased from 85 percent last year to 93 percent in 2021. However, only 14% of journalists say their efforts significantly impacted fake news, and just 39 percent said it had a moderate effect.

• Top-tier media gains trust in the eyes of journalists: In 2021, 84 percent of respondents said they use publications like The Wall Street Journal to vet information, a sizable jump from the 56 percent in 2021.

• Journalists’ relationship with social media: Despite the low opinion of social media and Big Tech that the journalists surveyed expressed, two-thirds of them said they use social media in their jobs at least a quarter of the time.

• The future of Section 230: While 55 percent of respondents said social media poses the single greatest threat to the spread of misinformation, they didn’t have strong feelings about reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, a possible way to regulate Big Tech. Fewer than half believe reforms are necessary.

• The effectiveness of media literacy: Just over one-third of the journalists surveyed (35%) said media literacy efforts had a high or moderate impact when it comes to lessening the spread of fake news — and nearly one in five said they had no impact.

“We support journalists in their efforts and know the value of what they do for a free society,” said Lisa Seidenberg, Greentarget’s vice president of media relations. “That said, we think — and we certainly hope — they’re being overly cynical about fighting fake news. Media literacy efforts, which have proven effective, are increasing across the country. We find these efforts encouraging — and we hope journalists and the broader public get behind them more fully.

A full version of Fake News 2021 is available here. For more information, contact Lisa Seidenberg at lseidenberg@greentarget.com or 312-252-4108.