Los Angeles Times

Journalism matters, science concludes

The president may be fond of complaining about "fake" news, but the truth is that journalism drives the national conversation, and science has proven it.

A new study published Thursday in the journal Science demonstrates that even small news outlets can have a substantial impact on the issues Americans talk about and when they talk about them. That's especially true when these news outlets work together.

"Journalists have a job that affects American democracy," said study leader Gary King, director of Harvard University's Institute for Quantitative Social Science. "People talk about this a lot, but now we actually have evidence

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