How Public Distrust in the Government and the Media May Kill off an Entire Generation.
“Trust increases the propensity for individuals to cooperate, but the existence of cooperation does not imply that individuals necessarily trust one another” (Thomas, 1998, p. 172).
For many of us the world seemed to change in the blink of an eye. We were instructing students on Monday and given notice that we would be working from home by Wednesday. For some of us, the changes took a little longer, and given one last weekend to work in the bar business before they were shut down indefinitely. Despite our backgrounds in employment, or whether or not we are still working in the general public, many of us know someone, a friend or a family member who is not taking the situation seriously at all. Despite the call for social distancing, much to our dismay they show up at our doorsteps or call to see if they can drop by. Maybe it’s a loved one who continues to shop and go out in public, chances are it’s someone from an older generation who just isn’t getting the point. Here is why, trust in the media and trust in our government are at an all-time low. Communication scholars, like myself, look for situations like these to help convey messages to those with strong attitudes in hopes to express the importance of things like social distancing. I’m afraid that with low trust in media, creating a mass media message for this population just isn’t possible. In this essay I will describe how trust in media and trust in government has declined, a potential explanation for avoidance of social distancing. This essay will conclude with advice on how you can be a hero by stepping in and urging those individuals, our older generations, your loved ones, to engage in social distancing.
An article written for Rolling Stone by Dickson (2020) reflects our feelings of despair as we urge our loved ones, usually our parents to stay at home and practice social distancing. As he describes his “aggressive” attempts to get his parents to avoid going out to concerts he proclaims the tables have turned. That he is treating his parents like they treated him as a teenager, telling them he is disappointed because they are not taking the situation seriously. Many of us are in the same boat, shocked that our parents or friends are continuing to venture out and socialize with others. Dickson (2020) cites a survey conducted by STAANCE (2020) that shows the baby boomer generation is the least likely to fear contracting COVID-19, also known as “the boomer remover” (Dickson, 2020). The Pew Research Center defines the generation “Boomers” as those born between1946 and 1964, aged 55–73 in 2019. These individuals are at the highest risk of COVID-19 related mortality.
The CDC reports that among the 4,226 cases reported in the United States, 25% were aged 65–84 years old and 18% were aged 55–64 years. Considering these numbers combined, nearly 43% of the reported population of COVID-19 cases were boomers. Additionally, 36% of those aged 65–84 and 17% of those aged 55–64 have been hospitalized, 53% combined. Of those reported COVID-19 cases, 46% of individuals aged 65–84 and 20% of those aged 55–64 died (CDC, 2020). These numbers indicate that our older population, our beloved boomers are at the highest risk for COVID-19 related mortality. Despite these facts, this generation is not heeding the call to stay home. While Dickson (2020) proclaims this behavior may be explained by partisanship, I believe distrust in media and the government are to blame.
To understand why, we first need to understand how trust in government has dwindled for this population. According to Song and Lee (2015) public administration finds the decline of trust in government to be a highly concerning issue. Differences in trust may stem from individual characteristics, socialization, perceptions of government performance, and perceptions of government transparency. Wroe (2016) claims that trust is inherently tied to the economy. Specifically, citizens are more likely to trust the government when the economy is thriving, and less likely to trust the government when the economy is tanking (Wroe, 2016, p. 135).
Economic insecurity leads to higher mistrust in the government because of “deep-seated psychological biases, rooted in human evolution and survival, to avert loses and preserve the status quo” (Wroe, 2016, p. 140). Political trust, in the 2016 study conducted by Wroe was measured as how often the government does what most American’s want it to do. Economic security was measured in terms of individual level of worry, varying from very worried to not worried at all, in terms of: employment (losing your job), healthcare (losing your health care coverage), family (paying your rent/mortgage), and wealth (getting by without your partners income if they were no longer around due to death, divorce, or other circumstances). In the midst of this pandemic, many of us I believe, are facing high levels of worry about these very same economic security indicators. Findings by Wroe (2016) indicated that economic insecurity is highly correlated with political trust. High worry in each dimension of economic security, employment, healthcare, family, and wealth pointed to low levels of political trust. Considering our tanking stock market, and high levels of unemployment, it is easy to see how trust in government may be at an all-time low.
A Pew Research Report from 2015 provides a visual that displays how trust in government has declined from 1958 to 2015, with spikes in trust occurring during times of economic prosperity and after the 9/11 terrorist attack in the United States. Explanations for the baby boomer generation’s erosion of trust is their experience with periods of “civil unrest, the Vietnam War, and the Watergate scandal” (Pew, 2015).
An updated survey by the Pew Center (2018) reports that public trust in the government has not changed much since the last report. This survey indicates 18% of individuals reported they trust the federal government will do what is right most of the time, 14% reported they would never trust the federal government to do what is right, and the remaining two-thirds are somewhere in the middle (Pew, 2018). What is interesting is that younger adults are more likely to trust the government than older generations, and that this pattern seems to repeat itself throughout time (Pew, 2018).
Thomas (1998) echo’s the Pew Center (2015) report by describing how trust in government has declined in the United States since the 1960s. Trust in government can be defined in terms of fiduciary trust, mutual trust, and social trust. Thomas (1998) defines these three concepts, and elaborates on how they can be created, maintained, and restored. Fiduciary trust is defined as the trust in an individual to carry out their duties “while not taking excessive personal advantage of their privileged position” (Thomas, 1998, p. 170). Elected officials then are expected to perform morally and protect their constituents in order to uphold public trust. “Citizens must place their trust in government agencies and their employees to act in their interest” (Thomas, 1998, p. 171). To uphold fiduciary trust public officials should act ethically and respond to citizens that they interact with by taking the concerns of the public into account when considering government action. In addition to fiduciary trust, social trust is tied to public trust in the government.
Social trust regards individual socialization, as “socialization leads individuals to be more or less self-interested and more or less calculating” (Thomas, 1998, p. 175). Social normative behaviors influenced by social capital, that is, communicating with others in your community, forms the basis for normative behavior. Adherence to these norms forms an aggregate social trust. Following this, if its normative for community members to trust the government, then at an aggregate level there will be social trust. Mutual trust is also interpersonal in nature, but at a microlevel. Mutual trust has to do with the interpersonal relationships we hold, which shape the social trust of our government through our day to day interactions. It also has to do with the relationship between public and private. Policy makers are expected to be transparent and openly communicate policy. When decisions are made behind closed doors, it is likely that citizens will be skeptical of policymaker’s judgements. Interpersonal discussions about the decisions of policy makers influence social trust. These tenants of trust can be inflated or deflated by political leaders’ when they accuse media sources of perpetuating “fake news” (Van Duyn & Collier, 2019).
Most Americans became familiar with the term “fake news” after the 2016 election cycle. During this time political discourse was filled with stories about inaccurate reporting on social media on presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton (Van Duyn & Collier, 2019). Since 2016 Americans have seen a rise in political discourse about fake news, which thus influences distrust in media (Van Duyn & Collier, 2019). Donald Trump himself has driven discourse about fake news, calling NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and the New York Times “the enemy of the American People” (Acosta, 2019). Such discourse, from the highest political position in the nation is hurting American trust in the news media. A 2019 Gallup Poll confirms that individuals are less likely to trust national newspapers (e.g., The New York Times), and the nightly news featured on ABC, CBS, and NBC, in addition to CNN (Brenan, 2019).
A study conducted by Van Duyn and Collier (2019) tested individual response to news primed by elite discourse (e.g., those in high power positions discussing the veracity of the news). Results indicated that when elites discuss fake news, individuals are less likely to correctly identify real news. Further, those who were exposed to the elite discourse news condition were less likely to trust the media (Van Duyn and Collier, 2019). Considering our current political climate, where the most elite position in the entire country is headed by someone who calls all oppositional media “fake news” how can we blame people for their misguided distrust? In 2017 Donald Trump had tweeted about “fake news 73 times” (Rosen, 2017). This number has probably grown exponentially since then.
Trust in the news media has been declining since Watergate (Zuckerman, 2017), the same can be said about trust in government (Pew, 2015). Yet these organizations are trying to inform the public at large to hunker down and participate in social distancing. Those who have lived through Watergate, the boomer population, are less likely to trust the news media and the government. So, what can we do? Looking at the Gallop Poll chart above, the only thing that hasn’t changed in the last 20 years is public trust in discussions with friends and family. While individuals may be less likely to trust the government and the news media, their trust in you, friends and family, has not waned. That’s why I implore you to have these difficult discussions with your family members.
A blog by Reina (n.d.), a trust building consultant organization, provides several steps in having a difficult conversation with someone. Following a couple of these steps may be a good way to engage in a difficult conversation with your loved ones about social distancing. First set your intentions, what is your intent? You are looking out for their safety, and yours! Second, differentiate between the truth and your truth. What is your truth? Let them know your perceptions about the current situation. Regarding loved ones, we are not only looking out for them but also ourselves. Let them know you are not accepting visitors because you fear for you and your family’s health. You fear their health and want them to stay safe as well. Third acknowledge their sensitivity to what you are telling them. We understand that they have different perceptions about the news media and the government. But honestly, better safe than sorry, right?
In closing, I hope you have learned a little more about our beloved boomers. Their trust in the government and their trust in the news media have been on the decline since the 1960s, and who can blame them? They’ve lived through some tumultuous times. But you can be a hero, you can make a difference. As a loved one, a friend or family member, save the lives of this generation by having the difficult discussions with them. They don’t trust the media, and they don’t trust the government, but they do trust you.
References
Acosta, J. (2019). How Trump’s ‘fake news’ rhetoric has gotten out of control. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from:https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/politics/enemy-of-the-people-jim-acosta-donald-trump/index.html
Brenan, M. (2019). In U.S., 40% Trust Internet News Accuracy, Up 15 Points. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://news.gallup.com/poll/260492/trust-internet-news-accuracy-points.aspx
CDC (2020). Severe Outcomes Among Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) — United States, February 12–March 16, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6912e2.htm
Dickson (2020). Why Don’t More Boomers Care About Coronavirus? Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/baby-boomers-coronavirus-covid-19-966935/
Pew (2015). 1. Trust in government: 1958–2015. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/1-trust-in-government-1958-2015/
Pew (2018). 2. Views of scope of government, trust in government, economic inequality Retrieved March 22, 2020 from:https://www.people-press.org/2018/03/01/2-views-of-scope-of-government-trust-in-government-economic-inequality/
Pew (2020). Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from:https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/
Reina, D. (n.d.). How to Tell a Difficult Truth in 7 Straightforward Steps. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from:https://reinatrustbuilding.com/how-to-tell-a-difficult-truth-in-7-straightforward-steps/
Rosen, C. (2017). All the times Donald Trump has called the media ‘fake news’ on Twitter. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://ew.com/tv/2017/06/27/donald-trump-fake-news-twitter/
Song, C., & Lee, J. (2016). Citizens’ use of social media in government, perceived transparency, and trust in government. Public Performance & Management Review, 39(2), 430–453.
STAANCE (2020). Coronavirus Reactions. Retrieved March 22, 2020 from: https://www.staance.com/post/coronavirus-reactions
Thomas, C. W. (1998). Maintaining and restoring public trust in government agencies and their employees. Administration & Society, 30(2), 166–193.
Wroe, A. (2016). Economic insecurity and political trust in the United States. American Politics Research, 44(1), 131–163.
Van Duyn, E. & Collier, J. (2019). Priming and Fake News: The Effects of Elite Discourse on Evaluations of News Media. Mass Communication and Society, 22(1), 29–48.
Zuckerman, E. (2017). “Mistrust, efficacy and the new civics: Understanding the deep roots of the crisis of faith in journalism.” Knight Commission Workshop on Trust, Media and American Democracy, Aspen Institute.