Public Trust in Journalism: Three Perspectives on Why News Media is Questioned

Section 1: The Interviews

Jose Padilla: "I don't believe in nothing"

• Contact: Jose Padilla, jp.hvac@yahoo.com

• Main news source: YouTube via independent Spanish economist Jose Vizner 

• Political view: Conservative

• Trust level: 1 out of 4 for mainstream outlets

• Defining "mainstream": NBC, ABC, Telemundo—dismissed as "entertainment news" and "trash"

Padilla, 65, represents a growing demographic that has abandoned traditional news entirely. 

"Mostly I don't watch news. I just watch what I need to watch," he explained, describing a selective consumption pattern driven by personal relevance rather than institutional loyalty. 

His news consumption consists exclusively of YouTube content from a single independent Spanish economist, accessed through a standard YouTube subscription.

His skepticism runs deep and is tied to his preconceived belief in systemic flaws. 

"For me, it's very biased. Whatever they say, I think 70% is distorted or is not the reality," Padilla stated. To him mainstream journalism as an industry caters to those who fund news outlets, where  "whatever it pays…they [the journalist] cover their interest." 

He declined to identify as any particular race—"I'm not a dog or a cat"—and declined to provide his zip code, reflecting a broader pattern of institutional distrust.

Padilla's criteria for credible journalism in an ideal world would be presenting facts with multi-perspective analysis. Yet he considers this impossible under current structures. 

He asked “who supports those,” when referring to journalists and after a pause, he answered his question: “the advertisement, the companies... They won't talk bad about the advertisers because they live from that," he noted. To Padilla, even independent journalists face limitations “due to personal ideologies”. 

He had a clear understanding of the distinction between news, opinion and analysis. When  asked why he prefers analysis he replied "opinion by itself intrinsically means ignorance, to be honest."

His bottom line is "I don't believe in nothing. I just watch and I create my criteria, that's all."

Clarissa Hidalgo: "I can usually tell by the language that's used"

• Contact: Clarissa Hidalgo, clarissa.hidalgo4@gmail.com, Age 31, Operations Manager, 91304

• Primary sources: Social media algorithms, Google alerts, secondary search verification

• Political View: Other; left-leaning

• Trust level: 1.5 out of 4 for mainstream outlets

• Defining "mainstream": NBC, CBS, KTLA, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC

Hidalgo, 31, navigates news through a self-verification system. She pulls from social media feeds then cross-references through Google searches when topics demand further investigation. When asked about what news she fact checks she replied "nothing in particular, mostly just whatever kind of like pops up."

Her distrust in news outlets began from coverage she witnessed at a young age. As an adult, reflecting back on Hurricane Katrina coverage, she had an awakening moment when she noticed more outlets highlighted business districts “while ignoring more impoverished areas," creating a skepticism for news media as a whole.

She identifies bias through language uses rather than through source reputation, evaluating whether word choices in coverage are objective or subjective or emotionally based. 

Hidalgo also believes news organizations hire journalists based on ideological alignment. "They're going for someone who has a tone that's more aligned with what they're going for," she stated, citing Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC as obvious examples. She believes biases are present differently depending on the medium the news is presented. She mentioned through video she notices selective imagery and "buzzwords” and through text the use of key words or shock value. She also mentioned that  “a lot of the mainstream news will try to create some level of shock value to get people interested"

Her assessment of news is that "at the end of the day, it's focused on viewership, not the actual news."

Roberta Jackson: "They could report unbiased"

• Contact: Roberta Jackson, rvjackson1@outlook.com, Public Relations/ Communications Professional, 90004

• Primary sources: Family members, Substack, LA Times, New York Times (subscribed but unread) 

• Political view: Moderate

• Trust level: 2 out of 4 for mainstream outlets

• Subscriptions: Substack, LA Times, New York Times

Jackson, a communications professional with 15 years experience working with journalists at Southern California News Group, Outlook Newspapers, and The Sentinel, occupies a unique position—funding journalism she doesn't consume while relying on family and independent journalists for “actual news”. "I'm on the no consuming the news end," she admitted, while maintaining her subscriptions to Los Angeles Times and New York Times, pointing to her distrust in larger news outlets in favor of localized news sources.

Her professional experience creates a sharp distinction between local and national coverage. She considers her journalist contacts unbiased while dismissing major outlets as agenda-driven. "The parent companies would have to change for me to consume it more," she explained, advocating for structural change of news outlets. She added how outlets would have to "allow the journalists to report versus having the journalists have an agenda."

Jackson's critique included misrepresentation and language choices from larger legacy news outlets. She notes racial disparities in crime coverage. "If it's someone white, there's no photo... If it's someone black, there's multiple photos," she said in an bothered tone. 

She believes news should "just report the facts" without political skew. This standard explains her Substack preference. To Jackson, independent journalists who left larger organizations over editorial direction will provide her more factual news. Despite funding traditional outlets, her actual information comes through interpersonal networks, suggesting institutional journalism has become, for her, a charitable and civic abstraction, rather than a utility.

Section 2 

According to the Pew Research Center, today, 52% of adults under 50 have a lot of or some trust in information from the national news media leaving more than 44% saying they have little or no trust. All 3 interviewees, Padilla, Hidalgo and Jackson, were distrusting of the media, which is not an isolated occurrence.

Like 53% of U.S. adults, both Hidalgo and Padilla get their news from social media. With Padilla being a part of the 41% of adult males in the U.S. get their news from YouTube.

Regarding Padilla’s distrust in journalists’ ability to report without bias, a Pew Research Center survey proved that a little more than half of the journalists surveyed by the center, about 55%, say that every political side does not always deserve equal coverage in the news. That percentage grew to roughly 63% for younger journalists ages 18 to 29, lending support to his view. 

Section 3

How this will impact your work as a journalist. (yes this is opinion!)

Write 200 words or fewer about how this exercise will help you as a journalist. What did you learn that you did not consider going in?

As a journalist we are often told to be not have a bias in our reporting, however after asking 3 different people about their news media consumption I learned that being bias can lead to media distrust and it can derive from different origins. 

With Jose Padilla, I learned that major news media can be viewed as serving their “funders,” those who pay for advertising. Additionally, I was asked to got a moment to reflect on how an opinion is intricately biased due to human ideologies.

From Clarissa Hidalgo, I was reminded that fact checking all news outlets is required to be an informed news consumer because “you cannot always trust what you see on social media” and because at times news outlets can be more focused on metrics of their readership rather than presenting facts.

Lastly, from Roberta Jackson, I was reminded of the misrepresentation of people in the media and how independent reporters maneuver differently than reporters in news stations.