Mistrusting the news, with Jake Nelson and Robert Carson

Under what conditions do people trust the news, if at all? How did Covid lockdown change news consumption? What are we to think of journalists who leave establishment news organizations and build their own following on platforms like Substack?  And does our mistrust of news organizations mirror mistrust of other professional sectors, like health care and higher education? 

Jake Nelson, Associate Professor of Communication at the U and former journalist, discusses these issues and more, based on his extensive interviews with news audiences. With Seth Lewis (University of Oregon), he is working on a book project, Why We Distrust: American Skepticism toward Media, Medicine, and Higher Education. 

Sources mentioned in this episode: 

• Jeff Bezos on X, about the editorial mission of The Washington Post 
• Glenn Greenwald, on Locals 
• Bari Weiss, The Free Press 
• Ken Klippenstein, Substack 
• Taylor Lorenz, User Mag 

Jake’s recommended media:  

• City Cast Salt Lake 
• Axios 
• The Hollywood Reporter

Episode edited by Ethan Rauschkolb. Named after our seminar room, The Virtual Jewel Box hosts conversations at the Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah. Views expressed on The Virtual Jewel Box do not represent the official views of the Center or University.