Slides from a U.S. Government sponsored/invited Speaking Tour to Germany, seven-day tour of German-American Institutes in southern Germany (November 2017), supported by the Economic Security and Global Affairs team at the U.S. Embassy Berlin.

1. Damian Radcliffe > @damianradcliffe
November 2017
Journalism in the age
of President Trump

2. About me... many hats
Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism
University of Oregon
Fellow, Tow Center for Digital Journalism
Columbia University, Graduate School of Journalism
Honorary Research Fellow
Cardiff University, School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies
Fellow
Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)

3. No relation

4. 1995 – 1999: The Local Radio Company
1999 – 2003: BBC
2003 – 2008: CSV Media
2008 – 2012: Ofcom (UK Office of Communications)
2012 - 2014: ictQATAR (Ministry of Information and Communication Technology)
2012 + Freelance writing + training (Kenja Consulting)
2015+ University of Oregon
Background + timeline
1995 2017

5. How did we get here?
The role of the Tech and Media sectors in the 2016 election
Where are we now?
And how do we move forward?

6. Tech: Five contributing factors

7. 1. Fake news looks a lot like real news.

8. 2. Tech doesn’t automatically
discern fact from fiction.

9. 67%
of Americans get their
news on social media +
online sources are
growing in popularity

10. 3. Algorithms show us more of what
we like, not what we need to know.

12. 4. The rise of the bots.

13. 5. Tech has pulled money away
from sources of real reporting.

14. 8.7%
In newspaper print ads

15. The Media: five key issues

16. 1. Fewer ad dollars means fewer
journalistic boots on the ground.

17. 2. Unparalleled airtime helped
Trump build momentum.

18. 3. Did investigative journalism and
fact-checking make a difference?

19. 4. Many journalists out of step with
the mood of much of the country

20. 5.Trump’s ability to deflect attention

21. Longer term trends
Have also played a role.
Here’s three worth noting...

22. 1. Politics increasingly polarized

23. 2. So is our media consumption

24. 3. The Apprentice (14 series, 2004-15)

25. Where are we now?
The first 10 months...

26. Clashes from Day One

28. Popularization of “Fake News”

29. The rise of “Alternative Facts”

30. “Enemy of the People”

31. “The official opposition party”

32. Latest Developments

33. 1.Tech giants under the microscope

35. “I think one of the best names is —
you know, I've really started this
whole 'fake news' thing.
Now they've turned it around and
then, now, they're calling, you know,
stories put out by different — by
Facebook 'fake.'”
Donald Trump
October 26th, 2017
2. Claiming term “Fake News”

37. 3.Manafort coverage

38. 4.Nearly half of voters do not trust
mainstream media (poll 6 Nov 2017)
• 48% said MSM not trustworthy
• 45% of voters said they were.
• 66% of democrats view the
mainstream media as trustworthy
• 69% of republicans say MSM is not
trustworthy.
Is Trump’s deliberate war
on the media working?

39. Moving Forward
Five areas of focus and opportunity

40. 1. Tech Sector

41. a.Twitter labeling political ads

42. b. Google News autofact checking

43. c. Plug-ins and extensions

44. 2. Changes in journalistic practice

45. a.How you call out untruths?

46. b.Do you feed the troll?

47. c.Do things differently

48. But efforts can backfire

49. 3. See the opportunity

50. a. Trump Bump

51. b. Double down on principles

52. c. Stress why journalism matters

53. Work harder than ever to be accurate

54. 4. Media literacy & research

55. a. Learn from the past

56. b. From other countries

57. c. And the present

58. 5. Look to other countries

59. Regulation Technology

60. Partnerships Education

61. Recognize this won't be easy

62. Work hard to regain trust

63. Advocates in surprising places

64. Don’t have to go it alone

65. Email: damianr@uoregon.edu
Twitter: @damianradcliffe
Web: damianradcliffe.com
Thanks for listening