iHeartMedia CEO Bob Pittman spoke about radio being a trusted source of information throughout the 2024 election and how the medium will continue to battle misinformation shared on social media.
Joining MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle for her “Keynote Conversation,” Pittman said social media tends to be an “echo chamber” of friends just listening to friends. “I think it’s a world in which we’ve lost touch with the other side,” he explained. “There are many different opinions out there.”
Radio is a constant, trusted companion, Pittman told Ruhle. “Radio’s the most trusted media. TV, second… [radio] is about three times [more trusted] than social,” Pittman explained.
He cited a stat that said two-thirds of all Americans get their news from social media, “and about two-thirds of those people say, ‘but, I think it’s misinformation’ … There’s something wrong with that.”
Being a trustworthy source of information means radio also needs to be reliable because the listener “is there every day… they came to hang out,” he said. “The good news is we, because we’re broadcast radio, are regulated by the federal government… We operate on standards that most of America does not… And that, believe it or not, as tough as that is, it probably assures it’s a pretty safe environment.”
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