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Most U.S. local news consumers want journalists to ask tough, but respectful, questions of candidates and regularly fact check those running for office.
This was one of many key takeaways from a research project on trust in elections coverage, commissioned by the Radio Television Digital News Association and conducted by Magid. The findings were released publicly for the first time Thursday at RTDNA23 in Minneapolis.
According to the study, 62% of local news viewers and listeners say it is “very important” that local sources and journalists “ask tough, but respectful questions to get answers,” and 61% said it is very important they fact-check those candidates. Fifty-eight percent of the local news audience said it was very important those outlets have regular fact-checking segments.
“In our highly polarized society, Americans need to rely on their trusted local sources of news to get the facts about candidates, campaigns and other political issues,” said RTDNA President-CEO Dan Shelley. “These findings offer a clear roadmap to ensure local reporters and news managers are providing voters with the information they crave to make critical decisions in the voting booth.”
The goal of the study, RTDNA said, was to better understand how newsrooms can build and maintain trust in their communities as they enter the 2024 election cycle, as they cover races and issues at the local, state and federal levels. RTDNA said it hopes newsrooms will review the data and incorporate it into their best practices, and RTDNA will work over the coming months to