After a tumultuous start to the second Trump administration, it’s timely to ask hard questions about the news media. Who’s reading or watching “the news” anymore? Where do people get their news? Why are people so uninformed? Who “owns” the news media? Have media owners become shills for politicians? Is “news” still a public service? Is anyone proofreading or fact-checking for truth? Is there a generation gap when it comes to consuming “the news?” A gender gap? Does “the news” make money? What roles are played by social media and artificial intelligence?
Instructor Ralph Begleiter, a former CNN correspondent and emeritus University of Delaware professor, surveys the contemporary news media environment.