Jacob L. Nelson | Nieman Journalism Lab

Articles by Jacob L. Nelson

Jacob L. Nelson is a Ph.D. student in media, technology, and society at Northwestern University.

October 3, 2024

Journalism scholars want to make journalism better. They’re not quite sure how.

Does any of this work actually matter?

June 26, 2024

Is journalism’s trust problem about money, not politics?

The people we spoke with tended to assume that news organizations made money primarily through advertising instead of also from subscribers.

Journalists abandon social media, and news audiences follow (eventually)

“The downside: Without news brands investing the time and effort to add their content to social media platforms, these platforms — already flooded with misinformation — will become even less hospitable venues for the millions of people who spend hours on them daily.”

October 11, 2023

People’s (mis)trust of doctors can help us understand their (mis)trust of journalists

People were often clear about distinguishing between the healthcare system, which they tended to describe with disdain, and their individual doctor. There was no equivalent distinction made in journalism.

Despite it all, people will still want to be journalists

“My hope is that journalism educators meet this demand by doing what we wish more journalists did within their newsrooms.”

March 4, 2021

News organizations that want journalists to engage with their audience may be setting them up for abuse

“They’re not reaching out to these people with story ideas. They’re just telling them, ‘You suck and you’re ugly and you’re biased and your hair sucks.'”

March 27, 2020

The news media sounded the alarm on coronavirus for months — but few listened. Why?

“It’s clear that the public’s lack of trust in journalism generally mirrors the public’s lack of trust in coronavirus journalism specifically.”