How fake news can be good for brand engagement
How can brands combat the threat of reputational damage by fake news? By taking control of information in-house and establishing ethical brand journalism (you heard right), explains crisis communications specialist Gerry McCusker, in this guest post.
Trust in mainstream news media is down to an all-time low of 6%, according to a 2016 AP survey of Americans. Us Aussies and the Brits are probably even more cynical.
The question – and opportunity – now is; what’s to be done about this trust dearth?
There’s no end to the cases that have challenged media’s ‘acclaimed’ impartiality and integrity. Consider Rupert’s editorial empire, the BBC’s Jimmy Savile row and numerous other sorrowful scenarios from Jayson Blair to Joseph Mayton and we see smoke-signalled compromises between ‘news’ organisations and facts.
All of these have helped sour the news press and media’s image as truth carriers in the eyes of the public (who are all online now anyway).
