You already know journalists are getting fed up with the misinformation and hate on social media. But here’s a deeper, and honestly, darker layer to the story: The very way social media platforms make money—through advertising—can actually help fund and spread the bad stuff.
💸 Commercial & Political Manipulation: Following the Money
Whether it’s a politician trying to get your vote or a company trying to sell you a product, the goal is often the same: to create or manipulate public opinion. And on social media, the fastest way to get your message in front of millions of people is to pay for it.
- Political Spending: Political groups, campaigns, and outside organizations spend millions on platforms like Facebook and Google (which owns YouTube) to run targeted ads. They use a technique called microtargeting to show specific messages to tiny groups of people most likely to agree with (or be swayed by) that message—which can often include highly polarizing or even misleading information (disinformation). This spending is a huge source of platform revenue.
- Commercial Manipulation by Influencers: It’s not just politics. Influencers, especially in health and wellness, can be paid by brands or organizations to promote products (like supplements) or ideas (like anti-vaccine theories). These paid promotions might be spreading misinformation alongside their sponsored content, all while using the relationship and trust they’ve built with you to make the false claims seem real.
In both cases, advertising dollars act as the fuel that lets these manipulative messages reach a massive audience.
🙈 The Accidental Funder: Unwitting Advertisers
It gets even trickier because many legitimate, well-known companies might be funding misinformation without even knowing it.
- The Automated Problem: Most online ads are bought through automated, digital ad platforms. An advertiser sets a budget and tells the system who they want to reach (e.g., “teens interested in sneakers”). The algorithm then automatically places the ad across millions of websites and accounts to hit that target audience.
- Funding Fake News: Because the algorithm prioritizes finding the cheapest views, it can end up placing ads from huge brands next to content that is spreading misinformation or fake news. These “fake news” sites or accounts are often created simply to attract eyeballs and collect ad revenue.
- The Vicious Cycle: By appearing on these sites, the legitimate brands are unwittingly financing the people who are creating the very content that is eroding trust and spreading false claims. It’s a system where ad revenue keeps the misinformation machine running.
💔 Why Journalists Are Jumping Ship
The original article highlights that journalists are moving away from social media because of the misinformation and the toxicity that damages their credibility.
The advertising issue is a key part of that problem:
- The platforms are rewarded financially for engagement, even if that engagement comes from polarizing or false content that is easy to produce (like fake news).
- This creates an environment rife with vitriol and abuse which drives away the journalists who are trying to inform the public responsibly.
When advertisers and political groups use the platforms to manipulate opinion (either on purpose or by accident), it makes the overall information environment much harder for journalists to operate in. They see this as a threat to their entire mission of serving the public good, pushing them to seek direct connections (like newsletters) where they have more control over the message and less exposure to the chaos funded by ad dollars.
Reference
- Nelson, J. L., & Perreault, G. P. (2025, November 5). Journalists are souring on social media platforms, an analysis of 11 years of Nieman Lab predictions suggests. Nieman Lab.