RI News Research Executive Summary

February 24, 2021

January 20, 2021

Exploring the Information Needs and Habits of Rhode Islanders:

Key Findings and Recommendations

            This study examined the state and context of the Rhode Island local news media marketplace and how the availability of news aligns with the perceived needs of Rhode Islanders for local information.  The Social Science Institute for Research, Education, and Policy (SSIREP) research team explored the range, type and availability of information that Rhode Islanders access in the context of decision-making for daily and community life. We used several methods for approaching different aspects of this research question. The research team included Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz, Professor of Political Science and Director of SSIREP, Hillary Leonard, Associate Professor of Marketing, and Yinjiao Ye, Professor of Communications. The study included interviews with Rhode Island residents of diverse backgrounds, a public opinion survey of 600 Rhode Island residents and a content analysis of 832 news stories sampled from 37 local and state sources. The full results of the analysis are available on the SSIREP website.

 

Key Findings:

  • Overall the findings of the content analysis found that implicit biases in journalistic and editorial decisions result in biased representations that reinforce stereotypes in the public.
    • Low-income residents were represented in only a small fraction of news stories (approximately 5%). These references were largely limited to certain contexts: low-income people were most commonly featured in stories about education and holiday giving.
    • Women were underrepresented in the local news and when women were quoted or mentioned, they were presented in their roles in traditionally female-dominated fields such as education and health care. There were severe gender biases in articles pertaining to government, law enforcement, and legal professions in particular.
    • Black and Hispanic residents were less likely to be quoted or discussed in the news. Stories featuring people of color were most often found in stories about diversity or about provisions being afforded to communities of color.
    • Representatives of community groups received little attention in Rhode Island news. Only 16 percent of stories featured a quote or reference to a representative from a community group.
  • Overall, the findings from the interviews suggested that state and local media do not adequately represent people like them and that people do not know how to engage in issues that are important to them.
    • Rhode Islanders prioritize fairness and accuracy in reporting. However, they also report high social media use even as they express a low level of trust in the information transmitted via social media.
    • Respondents expressed concern that local and state media do not adequately represent people like them.
    • Respondents indicated that they did not know how to engage in issues of local importance.
    • Trust of news and information was a consistent concern. Every participant noted that “fake news” was rampant and dangerous. Most said that they trusted sources based on friends’ recommendations, based on name-recognition, or based on repetition.
    • Every participant used their smartphone to access local news. For most participants, it was the only way they accessed local news. At least one also used a computer and for two, television.
    • Most participants felt more informed on national events than on what was happening in Rhode Island or in their town. Almost every participant cited a lack of easy access for local information compared to national information.
  • Overall, the findings of the survey suggested that Rhode islanders are generally happy with their state and local news outlets but there is a disconnect between what is available and what Rhode Islanders would like. In addition, the needs of urban and non-white populations are often unmet. The survey also suggests that the majority of Rhode Islanders do not seek to learn new points of view from their news, but mainly use news to reinforce their previously held positions.
    • Respondents found it easier to find news about the state than their local communities. This was particularly true among young and non-white respondents.
    • Older Rhode Islanders are the most content with the news coverage available.
    • Trust in Rhode Island news outlets is fairly low.
    • Rhode Islanders have mixed feelings about how well the media are doing at representing people like themselves: 40% of those surveyed felt that the interests, ideas, and opinions of people like them were underrepresented in the state and local news media. Urban and non-White respondents were also slightly more likely than their counterparts to feel underrepresented.
    • The vast majority of respondents reported a preference for stories that feature a combination of people like themselves and people who are very different from themselves.
    • Only 40% of respondents said that “dealing fairly with all sides” was an important aspect of the news and only 23% of respondents prioritize understanding people from different walks of life.
    • An overwhelming number of respondents felt that it was important that journalists understand the history of the community and be personally engaged in the local community.
    • Rhode Islanders also felt that it was very important for state and local journalists to serve as watchdogs over Rhode Island’s elected officials but many respondents felt that the media could do more in this area.
    • Very few people reported trusting social media or that journalists presence on social media was important to them.
    • News coverage about the state and its local communities leaves Rhode Islanders feeling frustrated and sad. While people reported feeling more positively after reading local news, a majority of respondents still reported that the local news leaves them with a negative feeling.
    • Urban residents also were distinctive. Particularly noteworthy was their higher interest in local schools, compared with their non-urban counterparts.
    • There was a large gap between Hispanic and Non-Hispanic respondents in the use of online blogs and listservs for getting state and local information. “Very frequent” use of these platforms was much higher among Hispanic respondents.

 

Recommendations:

Based on the research, there are several potential ways to improve media representation and access in Rhode Island.

Supply Side Strategic Investments:

  • Implicit media bias training for the Rhode Island journalism community to address how women and minoritized groups are represented in the local news.
  • Lectures, presentations, and panels featuring experts on the subject of how biased representation shapes public understanding of critical issues. For example, authors such as Princeton Professor Martin Gilens (author of Why Americans Hate Welfare, a study of how racial misrepresentation in the news of welfare recipients has affected how the public views welfare recipients) or Santa Clara University Professor Don Heider (author of White News: Why Local News Programs Don’t Cover People of Color) could be beneficial to bring in for a public discussion of media bias in Rhode Island.
  • A fund or subsidy for local journalists whose primary focus is to cover underserved communities and topics of critical social import (e.g. inequality, poverty), and represent the perspectives of underserved communities.
  • A fund for major newspapers/online sources that create a list of how people can get involved in current issues in their communities. This could take the form of a small grant to news organizations that clearly list how residents can get involved based on the content of the story, or another form. Many news organizations, such as the Providence Journal, include a list of fundraisers and other volunteer opportunities, but none that we know of list community forums, open committee meetings or other such things in a way that is linked to the content they are covering. However, even the advent of a calendar of community engagement events could facilitate residents’ understanding of how to become involved in the issues the news covers.
  • Paid internships or fellowships for students of diverse backgrounds who are interested in pursuing careers in local journalism. These would not have to be limited to journalism majors, as many journalists have specialized backgrounds in education, political science, history, business, or science and use that expertise to facilitate quality reporting. The University of Maryland’s Baltimore Sun Diversity in Journalism Scholarship provides a model for the success of such a program.
  • A cooperative organization for local investigative journalism. Such an organization could, for example, partner with colleges to offer an “investigative journalism clinic” where student fellows would gain professional development by conducting investigative research alongside established professional journalists and provide needed local investigative long-form journalism.
  • Translation of newspapers into alternate languages–English to Spanish and Spanish to English, for example. Offering these translations, even if only in the newspapers’ online editions, would allow coextant communities to avoid becoming trapped in “information silos.”
  • Conferences, seminars, or webinars that invite local journalists, academics, and students, and the public to come together and discuss the role, limitations, and benefits of local media. Such discussions would both increase the perceived value of journalism and improve trust in professional journalists and their publishers. In addition, personalized accounts of modern journalism’s financial realities would impress upon the community the importance of public support.
  • Training for community organizations, particularly those who represent low income or minoritized communities, in media communications to increase the supply of information to the media from groups who speak for all Rhode Islanders. These trainings could focus on writing effective press releases, gaining free media, and strategic communications. Alternatively, scholarships for employees of community organizations to take courses in media relations at one of the Universities. The academic community in Rhode Island could be a good source of these trainings and could potentially be partners to deliver this content based on courses already offered at Universities. For example, URI offers PRS320: Strategic Media Relations, a three-credit undergraduate course that covers media relations strategies/tactics including crafting press releases, pitching to the media, and the use of social/traditional media to inform/persuade the public about issues. A version of courses like this could be created for a public audience.

 

Demand Side Strategic Investments:

  • Development of more robust K-12 civics education programs and curriculum for Rhode Island Schools. Support for teacher training and development, and/or experiential learning activities and experiences to provide students with experiences with local government agencies and activities. While a decline in civics education generally has been a growing concern in the U.S. since the implementation of No Child Left Behind, schools in urban and lower-income communities especially suffer from a lack of civic instruction, curriculum and engagement opportunities.[1] Civic education initiatives might therefore focus on these schools especially.[2]
  • Development of curriculum for information literacy programs to teach students in grades K-12 to recognize media bias and determine the reliability of information sources[3] or support for the implementation of existing information literacy programs, especially those focused on determining trustworthy sources and bias in social media platforms.
  • Workshops and programs offering community members instruction in how to engage with media and government. Again, this is particularly important for lower income communities. Topics covered in these workshops might include how to write a letter to the editor, how to garner free publicity for an event or demonstration, and how to speak at a public hearing.[4]

 

[1]Coley, Richard and Andrew Sum (2012) “Fault Lines in Our Democracy: Civic Knowledge, Voting Behavior, and Civic Engagement in the United States.” Available at: https://www.ets.org/s/fault_lines/18719_fault_lines_report_web.pdf

[2] Various resources and ideas for civics education programs are available at www.civxnow.org.

[3] PBS provides an example lesson plan at https://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/lessons-plans/decoding-media-bias-lesson-plan/

[4] One such workshop might be modelled after the business ethics program “Giving Voice to Values,” which encourages people to rehearse having difficult conversations out loud to empower them to engage in difficult conversations in real life. More information on this program can be found in Gentile, M. (2017). Giving Voice to Values: A global partnership with UNGC PRME to transform management education. International Journal of Management Education, 15(2), 121-125.