Public trust in media has steadily declined across OECD countries, and this distrust is also prevalent in South Africa. To add to this distrust, over the past decade, globally (and in South Africa) we have witnessed the rise of unregulated partisan media, online news sites that mimic traditional media, and the proliferation of alternative news sources (such as podcasts) where journalistic codes and regulatory functions are absent from the production of news media. 

The consequence of this is that a considerable increase in sources of mis- and disinformation has unfolded, creating a fair amount of information overload and ‘noise’ in the public consumption of media. There is also overlap and spill-over effects between social and online media, and unregulated partisan media. 

Combine this with the self-reinforcing impacts that centralised algorithms have on news consumers and the proliferation of echo-chambers that drive socio-political divisions, it’s no wonder the public are confused and divided over key issues that impact them. The Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change has been developing methods to research, expose and intervene in this space; with a view to empowering media consumers to better understand what is influencing media bias and to become more discerning and responsible consumers of information.