How marketers and the media can help repair civic integrity

The ravages of COVID-19 persist in part because a second, less observable virus has kneecapped our national response. Its impact extends beyond the pandemic, infecting nearly every facet of American life. Our citizenry is divided, communities paralyzed by hate and resignation and our broken politics only intensifies the infection. Symptoms include pervasive intolerance for opinions that differ from one's own and extreme public action such as the events in Washington, D.C., in January 2021. It’s time for brands, agencies and the media to recognize our civic health crisis—and confront our own roles in enabling polarization and divisiveness. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight. Our country’s founders relied on a free press as a critical bedrock informing a healthy, self-governing republic, yet fixation on ratings and clicks has undermined that lifeline, sowing confusion and suspicion. In a recent study, only 29 percent of Americans expressed trust in the media, with the U.S. ranking last among the 40 countries polled. What’s more, 48 percent of U.S. adults say they get their news from social media “often” or “sometimes,” with Facebook outpacing all other social platforms. Couple this with the recent revelation from whistleblower Frances Haugen that Facebook, “prematurely turned off safeguards designed to thwart misinformation” and that the algorithms dictating what stories populate user’s feeds favor hateful content, and we see the far-reaching and insidious effect these systems—when unchecked—can have on individuals, communities and democracy at large. Individually, most Americans have grown so immersed in social media and TV that there’s little time left for authentic interactions, let alone participating in constructive dialogue and civic engagement. Profits and growth are as addictive to media companies as the scrolling news feed is to consumers. We are complicit in creating a culture of unrelenting “othering” and triggering, whose most sinister by-product is “affective polarization,” wherein tribal identity is animated by strong negative feelings—namely dislike and distrust toward those who hold opposing views. Brands and their agencies are in a unique position to leverage their economic power to grant creators, producers and talent the freedom to apply their creative genius toward impact programming. The collective hold our industry has on public attention and imagination makes it possible to build momentum toward a consequential solution. The magnitude of this challenge requires “moonshot thinking,” and our industry has the vision, tools and resources to rise to the occasion—if we have the will. The framework for a reawakening must live outside of politics. It should embrace real-world storytelling for and about diverse everyday Americans with genuine convictions, often at odds but ready to roll up their sleeves and find ways to work together to solve problems. We can take cues from blockbuster entertainment and sports programs that dominate TV ratings, routinely racking up billions of minutes viewed, by: Using our abundant talent and resources to leverage celebrity and apply the formats, techniques and raw inspiration behind our beloved programs to engender understanding and positive change. Creating compelling programming that engages, educates and elevates, coupled with incentives and insights that rebrand civic engagement as cool and relevant. Revealing the “real America,” unencumbered by the cable news and social media spin machine—making sure we engage as many people as possible along the way. Shining a light on real Americans defying convention, bucking expectations and getting hard things done. Marketers and the media should throw their creative, economic and entrepreneurial weight behind recasting our heretofore adverse influence on America’s civic health by taking purposeful action to generate real change: Embrace and allocate a defined percentage of 2022 ad spend toward positive programming that humanizes differences, highlights common values and aspirations and unites a mass audience. Develop a corporate social responsibility initiative within your company focused on ending polarization Donate a defined percentage of ad inventory to non-partisan organizations working to combat the journalistic and technological divide such as Solutions Journalism Network and Center for Humane Technology Contribute to reputable non-profits focused on awakening the better angels of media and entertainment and strengthening civic engagement, including the Civic Health Project and National Conference on Citizenship. Refrain from working with groups that don’t support one or more of these measures We must act now to do our part because, quite possibly, no one else can reverse this downward spiral before it brings our nation to its knees. Taking this pledge is the first step to move past talking and begin active efforts to bring Americans together for the greater good. Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

How marketers and the media can help repair civic integrity

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