According to a new survey from the Associated Press, “nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults say the news media is increasing political polarization in this country, and just under half say they have little to no trust in the media’s ability to report the news fairly and accurately.”
Hence the explosion of alternative media, which the AP defines as “social media and unreliable websites that spread misleading claims and that can become partisan echo chambers, leading to further polarization.”
But news media could learn something from the success of alternative media. They could show more willingness to engage with issues that complicate the progressive narrative and place more emphasis on viewpoint diversity. Given that the traditional news outlets generally have far more resources than alternative media outlets, there’s nothing stopping them from winning back the audiences they’ve lost.