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The point of departure for this paper is a report commissioned by the German Public Radio and Television Board ARD in 2019 with the goal of devising a strategy to improve its public image, which had been greatly damaged by a series of financial scandals. Produced by the cognitive scientist Elisabeth Wehling, the report made the recommendation that the ARD should aim in its messaging and rhetoric to cultivate the sense that the broadcaster and its audience constitute a common moral community. This paper argues that the traditional media – represented primarily by public broadcasters and broadsheet newspapers – have in fact been following this strategy of "simulated intimacy" all along in order to adapt themselves to the conditions of communication created by new digital media, in particular social networks. However, in order set up a contrast between themselves and the social media platforms, traditional media seek to emphasize their monopoly on objective, factual reporting.