In new article now online @journstudies, @ruthiepalmer, @rasmus_kleis, & I find the "watchdog" ideal, the notion that news media play an important role in holding power to account, largely absent among "news avoiders" in Spain and the UK. [1/6] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1461670X.2020.1808516

Instead, many held alternative “folk theories” about the relationship between news & politics, seeing the media not as independent or on the side of the public but as part of a single system of powerful elites who care mainly about advancing their own interests. [2/6]

Given how central the watchdog ideal is to many journalists’ professional identities as well as academic scholarship on news, we thought it important to capture in a bottom-up manner what this skepticism about the watchdog ideal looks like. [3/6]

If people distrust news outlets’ motives to a degree that they trust politicians more, as some UK news avoiders appeared to, or if they see the news as part of a corrupt elite, as was the case for many news avoiders in Spain, watchdog journalism is rendered ineffective. [4/6]

What's more, our interviews are a reminder that "folk theories" are shaped by many forces beyond direct experience. Many just “knew” they could not trust news, or found it boring, or that it was part of a shady system intended to hide important matters from them. [5/6]

In other words, no new business model, political regulation, tech innovation, or adjustment to news content will by itself improve trust. That will require attending to the cultural processes that define the legitimacy, recognized role, & perceived public value of journalism.