In 2026, American journalism institutions must proactively set strategies to protect themselves against the crossing of key red lines in media that will be extraordinarily difficult (e.g., taking multiple decades) to undo once crossed.

Organizations such as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the Committee to Protect Journalists continue to provide rapid response services as journalists and news organizations continue to be threatened and targeted by an increasingly hostile autocracy, but it’s not enough unless newsrooms take the responsibility to build real credibility with audiences again by exploring how collective identities have become more complex and nuanced.

Over the past year, I have been mapping a narrative-power analysis rooted in communities that are eager to participate in civic discourse but have not yet been invited into it. At its core, this work is about base building — cultivating loyal, diverse audiences over the long term by understanding how people make meaning, form identity, and build power together.

Many of us inside and outside the journalism industry have not yet created the psychological safety required for a healthy democracy — one capable of holding disagreement, ideological tension, and pluralistic perspectives. This can feel like an abstract or daunting mandate for newsroom leaders, especially when the concrete steps are unclear. But there are tangible actions they can take now.

Newsroom leaders must develop a more nuanced understanding of how civic identity is formed. Identities have become increasingly intersectional. For example, bilingual immigrant audiences are often treated as a single category, when in reality a faith-based or hyperlocal lens may further differentiate how they consume information and interpret the world. Understanding these layers allows newsrooms to anticipate how identity lenses shape — and validate — audiences’ worldviews.

A clearer framing of identity helps us understand where people look for information and how affiliation and belonging take shape. Traditional tropes about “dinner-table conversations” no longer reflect how many Americans build political meaning. What new online and offline spaces can newsrooms help create or convene — spaces where neighbors who have never met can connect through shared experiences, layered identities, and multiple perspectives?

News organizations must consider how these efforts help people make meaning in a moment when many feel abandoned by a dysfunctional government. Newsrooms are uniquely positioned to strengthen people’s sense of self-efficacy — one of the strongest predictors of civic engagement. Scholars such as Hahrie Han, Janelle Wong, and Paola Ramos have explored how groups form shared beliefs and collective agency, challenging outdated assumptions that have guided newsrooms as they churn out “resonant” content that rarely sticks. The interfaith dimensions of identity are especially important to consider in the current post–Charlie Kirk media environment, where belief systems are being mobilized in increasingly coordinated ways.

Journalism institutions that reframe audience loyalty as long-term base building will be better positioned to revitalize their role in shaping public narrative and civic discourse. Journalists are uniquely primed to take on this work — not through louder megaphones, but through deeper listening, more intentional identity-mapping, and strategic use of their platforms. This is not simply a survival strategy; it is a democratic imperative.