Media Insider: Media Trust Takes a Hit, Arena Group Buys AMG/Parade

Welcome to Media Insider, PR Newswire’s roundup of media news stories from the week.

AXIOS | SARA FISCHER
Distrust in Political, Media and Business Leaders Sweeps the Globe

According to a new global survey, trust in government, media and business leaders is collapsing. Government leaders and journalists are considered the least trustworthy societal leaders, according to Edelman’s new 2022 global “Trust Barometer,” a survey of 35,000 respondents across 28 countries. A majority of people globally believe journalists (67%), government leaders (66%) and business executives (63%) are “purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.” Around the world, people fear the media is becoming more sensational for commercial gain and that government leaders continue to exploit divisions for political gain.

Read the full report for more insights. 

WASHINGTON POST | ELAHE IZADI AND JEREMY BARR
In Chicago, a Public Radio Station Comes to the Rescue of the Sun-Times Newspaper

In an unusual merger that some hope could serve as a national model to preserve local journalism, Chicago’s NPR station plans to acquire one of the city’s major daily newspapers. The board of directors for Chicago Public Media, the umbrella organization for WBEZ, approved moving forward with the acquisition of the Chicago Sun-Times. The deal is expected to be complete by Jan. 31. Public radio stations have acquired for-profit news competitors in the past, but never at this scale. This is the first time a major public radio organization has acquired a big-city newspaper.

Read next: Gannett to end Saturday print editions of 136 newspapers. 

ASSOCIATED PRESS | STAFF
Lawsuit: Google, Facebook CEOs Colluded in Online Ad Sales

Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The lawsuit alleges the CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it. The original, redacted lawsuit, filed in 2021, accused Google of “anti-competitive conduct” and of teaming up with the social networking giant. But the unredacted version offers details on the involvement of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in approving the deal.

The companies also face tighter ad-tracking restrictions in Europe, after lawmakers there voted to toughen upcoming legislation.

THESTREET | STAFF
The Arena Group to Buy AMG/Parade as Anchor of New Lifestyle and Entertainment Vertical

The Arena Group has signed an agreement to acquire AMG/Parade, a premium multimedia content company with lifestyle, celebrity, food, health and wellness, sports, and outdoor verticals. Its brands include Parade Media, which reaches more than 54 million domestic consumers each month in digital and print. The acquisition jumpstarts a new Lifestyle and Entertainment vertical for The Arena Group, while simultaneously adding to the company’s Sports vertical, which in November entered the top five of all sports properties and reached more than 64.4 million digital unique visitors.

ICYMI: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit launches Pay With Change initiative, mandates new gender equity standards for advertising in 2022 issue.

POYNTER | SARA BEALOR
MediaWise, Noticias Telemundo and Google News Initiative Join Forces to Help Spanish Speakers Separate Fact from Fiction Online

A majority of the nation’s proposed solutions for wrestling the misinformation problem are geared toward English speakers and have left a serious gap for the country’s 41 million people who speak Spanish at home. The Poynter Institute’s MediaWise has developed educational resources to provide tools to Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. over the age of 50 to be more critical consumers of online content. The MediaWise en Español program, supported by the Google News Initiative, will build off the success of the nonprofit’s highly effective digital media literacy program for senior citizens and provide the older Spanish-speaking population with an on-demand, online course and educational resources on social media at no cost.

Meanwhile, Twitter is expanding its misinformation reporting feature to more international markets.

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Maria Perez is director of web operations at Cision. In her spare time, she enjoys kickboxing, baking, and cuddling with her dog Molly.