Journalists in the cohort will work to build trust alongside other newsrooms, researchers and Trusting News staff. Each journalist will receive a $250 stipend.
Applications open for Trusting News research cohorts on corrections, transparency
At Trusting News, we’re continually trying to hone in on the most effective ways to help journalists demonstrate credibility and actively earn trust with their communities.
That’s why we invested in creating Trust Kits, which are Trusting News’ self-guided training tools for journalists. We continue to create kits on additional topics.
This spring, we’re excited to further these Trust Kits by offering a handful of newsrooms guided support while working through specific kits.
Throughout April, we’ll be running two small cohorts where newsrooms will have an opportunity to work through one of two Trust Kits alongside other newsrooms, researchers and Trusting News staff.
You can find the application here.
These cohorts will be five weeks long, running April 1 to May 3, and newsrooms can apply to work through a Trust Kit about writing and publishing a corrections policy or a Trust Kit focused on how to insert transparency into your daily coverage.
Why apply? Participating newsrooms will get structure, accountability and support (plus a small monetary stipend to work through some foundational strategies to earn trust!).
You’ll be working closely alongside one of our research partners, Patrick Johnson, an assistant professor of journalism and the director of student media at Marquette University, who received an internal grant from Marquette University to support this work. Participating means dedicating time to implementing a Trust Kit and engaging in a research project to improve trust! The project includes weekly journaling and a focus group.
ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE: In recognition of the time spent reflecting on the work for research purposes, Dr. Johnson can offer a stipend of $250 per person.
Applications are open through March 13. Before applying, read through the below Q&A. If you have questions or concerns or would like more information, reach out to our team at info@trustingnews.org.
What’s the basic information?
- These five-week cohorts will start the week of April 1 and run through the week of April 29 (officially ending on May 3).
- Applications are open through March 13. Applicants will be notified by March 18, two weeks prior to the start of the cohorts.
- We will have two groups of newsrooms working through either our Corrections or Daily Transparency Trust Kits. In the application, you’ll be asked to indicate which Trust Kit you’d like to work on.
- Each of the two cohorts will include four newsrooms, for a total of eight newsrooms.
Who should apply?
- These cohorts are open to local journalists in U.S. newsrooms who are eager to build trust with their communities through transparency or corrections.
- We invite individual journalists, newsroom teams or newsroom management to apply. But we ask you to nominate one journalist to be the main point of contact.
- If you’re not a boss, we’ll require newsroom management to OK your participation in the project to make sure you’ll have the support you need to carry it through.
- Sorry, but this project isn’t structured for freelance journalists. We’ll announce more training opportunities freelancers can participate in soon!
What does being part of this project entail?
- You will commit to working through the entire Trust Kit over the five weeks. That doesn’t mean you have to implement each piece of advice! But it does mean you should read and consider the whole set of recommendations.
- You’ll participate in a kick-off call, provide weekly journal entries (in writing or video) reflecting on your experience, complete short pre- and post-project surveys, and participate in a final focus group.
- You’ll mostly be working through each Trust Kit on your own, but you do need to make continual progress (not save it all for the last week or two!). You will have weekly benchmarks to meet and brief weekly reflections.
- You’ll have the opportunity to connect with Trusting News staff and with other participating newsrooms for coaching and support if you choose.
- The Trusting News team will publish a list of participating newsrooms. We will also be eager to share what you do with the industry, and your examples might be added to the Trust Kits. (Nothing you share about your internal process will be published without your permission.)
- We anticipate you’ll need to dedicate an average of around 2 hours a week to completing this Trust Kit project.
More training coming soon…
We’re excited to share that we’ll be offering more newsroom cohorts and trainings starting this spring, focused on strengthening election coverage as well as news avoidance. The best way to know when these cohort applications open is to subscribe to our weekly Trust Tips newsletter and to follow us on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
At Trusting News, we learn how people decide what news to trust and turn that knowledge into actionable strategies for journalists. We train and empower journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating credibility and actively earning trust through transparency and engagement. Subscribe to our Trust Tips newsletter. Follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter). Read more about our work at TrustingNews.org.
Project manager Mollie Muchna (she/her) has spent the last 10 years working in audience and engagement journalism in local newsrooms across the Southwest. She lives in Tucson, Arizona, where she is also an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona’s School of Journalism. She can be reached at mollie@trustingnews.org and on Twitter @molliemuchna.
