Bridging the News and Social Media Divide: An Emerging Imperative for Democracy

Abstract

I examine the relationship between social media platforms and news organizations as it has evolved over the past two decades, showing that platform governance has affected individual users and news publishers in ways that often result in damage to democratic societies. I argue that the contraction of traditional journalism and rise of democratic backsliding around the globe call for a reconsideration of platform governance models that might help to reinvigorate news production. A better synthesis of traditional journalism’s public interest values and social media’s engagement model requires a restructuring of platform algorithms that focuses on long-term user value, enhanced press freedom protections, and renewed economic support for news production. Supporting news represents a global imperative as democratic stability becomes increasingly threatened, social media companies come under increasing strain and scrutiny as public actors, and generative AI further imperils news production.