October 21, 2024
Welcome to The L@B Report
Welcome to this month’s issue of The L@B Report from GSG, bringing you news and insights from the intersection of digital media and public affairs. In this issue, we discuss the rise of TikTok as a source of news and information, check in on the fact-checking industry, and explore how Reddit may be the future of crisis communications.
This issue of The L@B Report was put together by Ryan Alexander.
In the News
More Americans Are Using TikTok for News and Information
But they aren’t necessarily following media organizations or journalists
According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, more than half of Americans say they occasionally get news from TikTok – up from only a quarter of Americans in 2020.
However, this news and information is not necessarily coming from the media or from journalists. Instead, many Americans rely on creators, entertainers, and influencers to deliver the news interspersed within non-traditional news content (think skits or funny dances).
Takeaway
Some legacy media outlets, such as the Washington Post, CNN, and MSNBC have millions of followers on TikTok, as do individual journalists like CNN correspondent Max Foster (1.2 million followers) and independent journalists like Cleo Abram (1.5 million followers). Still, these numbers are tiny compared to the accounts of creators like Khaby Lame (162.8 million followers) or Mr. Beast (104.5 million followers).
Courting social media influencers has been a priority of the Biden administration, which invited more than 100 content creators to the White House back in August to talk about “issues including mental health, pay equity, and the abuse of artificial intelligence.” President Biden even called influencers “the source of the news” and said that they made a “new breakthrough in how we communicate.”
As Americans shift how they consume news, it will be increasingly important for public relations and public affairs professionals to add social media influencer outreach to their pitch strategy, otherwise they will miss opportunities to reach key audiences.
Facts. Who Needs Them?
Number of fact-checking websites declines globally amid politicization
Fact-checking efforts to combat the spread of misinformation took off globally during the Trump era. According to data from the Duke Reporters’ Lab, the number of fact-checking sites increased by 140% from 2016 to 2022 before leveling off and then experiencing a decline last year. In North America, the number of active fact-checking sites decreased from 94 to 90 from 2020 to 2023.
The politicization of fact-checking has ramped up during the 2024 election cycle. Democrats cried foul when CNN declined to fact-check Trump during the Biden-Trump debate in June, then Republicans attacked ABC News for fact-checking the Trump-Harris presidential debate in real-time.
Takeaway
The sheer volume of lies and false statements made by Trump has made it nearly impossible to fact-check him in real-time and contributed to the rise in fact-checking sites during his presidency. According to the Washington Post, President Donald Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims over four years as president. In August, NPR analyzed a Trump news conference, discovering 162 lies and distortions in just one appearance.
Since the debates, Trump’s campaign has waged a battle against real-time fact-checking. According to the Washington Post, Trump’s campaign has been “pushing TV networks, journalism organizations, and others to abandon the practice if they hope to interact with Trump.” Senator JD Vance recently snapped at a journalist who attempted to fact-check him over false claims of immigrant gangs taking over apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado.
Donald Trump may be able to get away with tens of thousands of lies, but that doesn’t mean other politicians and organizations can. While the number of fact-checking websites are “down” over the last few years, they are still up dramatically over the last 15 years and the industry remains critical to combatting increased mis- and disinformation.
Is Reddit the Future of Crisis Communications?
The White House turns to Reddit to share disaster relief information
According to reporting by The Verge, the “u/whitehouse” account has been active recently in subreddits r/NorthCarolina and r/Georgia to discuss the federal response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The White House created the profile on Reddit in the wake of massive amounts of disinformation flooding social media platforms in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.
Takeaway
Reddit has long been a destination for savvy public relations and social media professionals, first gaining popularity with celebrities and politicians though AMAs (Ask Me Anything), with President Barack Obama doing an AMA in 2012.
More recently, Google has seen the value in Reddit as it both uses the platform to train its AI technologies and places results from Reddit near the top of its search engine. The argument for Reddit is essentially that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X have become unreliable tools due to ever-changing algorithms and a glut of information. Reddit is still a community where “actual people gather to discuss or find information about certain topics or interests, organized and moderated by other actual people.”
As reaching audiences on other platforms becomes more difficult, Reddit should be part of the strategy for distributing information and engaging key communities.
More from GSG
Congratulations to our Creative Director Rob Lee – for being named one of PRNEWS’ People of the Year, recognized for driving creative innovation that gets attention and delivers results. We are fortunate to have him on our team!
