Authenticity is not a branding strategy of public relations; it is a survival strategy and a major wakeup call

Greg Maresca ——Bio and Archives--February 14, 2026

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A News Literacy Project (NLP) report lands like a brick: 84% of teenagers think journalism is a con, a carnival game where spin wins every prize. Only nine percent muster anything nice to say, while the remaining seven percent stare at the floor and pretend the question was for someone else.

They overwhelmingly judged journalists as “skilled at lying and deceiving than informing the public.” Half of those polled accused journalists “make up details,” while nearly two-thirds insisted that photos and videos are taken “out of context.”

Forty-five percent “said journalists do more to harm democracy than to protect it,” which is a polite way of saying thanks for nothing, Fourth Estate. Eighty percent “believe journalists fail to produce information that is more impartial than other content creators online,” apparently putting reporters in the same credibility bracket as that guy on TikTok who reviews New York pizza joints. Meanwhile, a confident 69% “thought that news’ organizations intentionally add bias to coverage to........

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