Journalists' Perspectives on Social Media in the Fourth Estate and Its Impact on Public Trust in Politics

Social/New media outlets like Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube have fundamentally altered the landscape of news delivery in the United States (U.S.), and across the globe. This qualitative study explored the impact of social media on public trust in politics, as told by experienced Fourth Estate practitioners. Thirty-one journalists from 24 different states, with ages ranging from 24 to 70 were interviewed for this study. Over a quarter of the journalists who participated in this research had more than 15 years of journalism experience. Five common themes were developed during this study: (1) Fake news and misinformation have varying negative impacts on public trust, (2) journalists are often accused of having political leanings, (3) traditional journalists have varying levels of professional engagement on social media, (4) social media offers journalists new avenues to the public, and can at times shape the agenda, and (5) journalists build trust with their readers during in-person consistent engagements and by humanizing themselves online. This study showed that Facebook and X were the two most commonly used social media sites for journalists to expand their readership, either through self-promotion or, in some cases, via a social media manager. Due to resource constraints and diverse readerships, there is no singular method to use social media most effectively for journalists or news outlets. This study utilized agenda-setting theory by McCombs and Shaw (1972) as a primary theoretical basis and cultivation theory by George Gerbner (1969) as a secondary theoretical basis.