Values and policies

At Trusting News, we strive to be transparent about the values and policies that guide our work — the same as we advise journalists to do. 

Keep scrolling to see our public-facing policies, or use the menu below to jump to a specific section.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

We are committed to contributing to a news ecosystem that understands, respects and reflects the complexity of the people journalists aim to serve. People have a right to information that tells fair and accurate stories about their lived experiences and values and helps them understand their neighbors, their communities and the larger world. Diversity — of experience, thought and values — is an important strength of communities and of newsrooms.

We work with news organizations we believe are mission-driven and willing to evolve. We are especially eager to dedicate time to leaders and newsrooms that are rooted in humility, dedicated to deep listening and committed to tell stories with and for communities that do not feel well served by news.

We are continually aware of the ways our own small team is the same as or different from each other — our Dimensions of Difference — and we rely on both formal collaborators and informal advisers to widen our lens and complicate our understanding of what the news industry and the public need.

Dimensions of Difference

We address issues of diversity and newsroom culture with our Dimensions of Difference guide, which supports newsrooms in identifying, understanding and talking about their own differences internally. (This work has been co-created with Spaceship Media.)

For help with how you can do this work in your newsroom, reach out to our team.

 

 

Our policies

We work with news organizations we believe are mission-driven and willing to evolve. We are especially eager to dedicate time to leaders and newsrooms that are rooted in humility, dedicated to deep listening and committed to tell stories with and for communities that do not feel well served by news.

We are continually aware of the ways our own small team is the same as or different from each other — our Dimensions of Difference — and we rely on both formal collaborators and informal advisers to widen our lens and complicate our understanding of what the news industry and the public need.

 

Corrections policy

At Trusting News, we are committed to accuracy, transparency, and accountability. As we advise newsrooms to do, we will acknowledge and correct our mistakes. 

Below is our approach to corrections. If you have any questions or feedback about this approach, please email us at info@TrustingNews.org.

Transparency:

  • If we publish content that is inaccurate, we will correct it.
  • If we publish content that feels unclear or misleading, we will consider making edits to it.
  • When we make an error of fact, we will correct it and explain what was wrong, what has been corrected, and why the correction was necessary.

Visibility:

  • When the format allows, we will update the original content with a correction note rather than removing the material, so the context of the correction is clear.

Accountability:

  • When the format allows, the content with a correction will include a timestamp or note indicating when the change was made.
  • If the error is significant, we will use additional communication channels (such as email or social media) to notify our audience of the correction.

Responsiveness:

  • We encourage you to reach out if you believe we’ve made a mistake. You can send correction requests to us by emailing info@TrustingNews.org
  • We promise to review all feedback promptly and take corrective action if necessary.
Data usage policy

Purpose of Data Collection

At Trusting News, we are committed to helping newsrooms build trust with their audiences. To do this, we collect information through surveys, interviews and collaborations with partner newsrooms and researchers. Information comes sometimes from journalists and sometimes from the public. The data we gather helps us analyze trends, identify best practices and create resources that support journalists in their work.

How We Use Data

The information we collect is used to:

  • Summarize and analyze survey results to identify key insights.
  • Summarize and analyze interviews to understand newsroom challenges and successes.
  • Develop training resources for journalists such as interview guides, checklists, Trust Kits, slides for in-person trainings and webinars and our weekly Trust Tips newsletter.
  • Publish articles and reports that share what we learn.

Privacy and Confidentiality

We are committed to maintaining the privacy of individuals and news organizations. To ensure confidentiality:

  • We do not share personal information collected through our research or partnerships.
  • We will not use the names of individual news consumers, journalists or newsrooms without their explicit permission.
  • When reporting findings, we use aggregated data and anonymized examples unless consent has been granted to share specific details.

For any questions or concerns about this policy, please contact us at info@TrustingNews.org.

AI policy

How do we incorporate AI in our work? At Trusting News we believe technology, including AI, can be a force for good in journalism.

By embracing AI and experimenting with it in our own work, we’re aiming to improve how we connect with our users (journalists and the journalism community) and set an example of ethical and responsible use of the technology.

We want to explore how AI can help us build a better relationship with journalists and help us be more productive and efficient in our work.

How we have used AI and would consider using AI

  • Summarizing. Assisting us with summarizing content we have produced or content that has been produced by newsrooms to be used for training materials or internal notes.
  • Repurposing. Helping us share content we have produced across multiple platforms. We always edit and check what was produced for accuracy and context.
  • Headline/name suggestions. Providing ideas for headlines or name suggestions for published content, training offerings or similar projects.
  • Research. Assisting us with internal research necessary to help us work with newsrooms. We make sure to verify any information shared before acting on it.

How we are not using AI 

  • Creating images. At this time we do not anticipate using AI to help us create images for internal or public-facing content.
  • Creating content from scratch. We do not plan on having AI create content for us from scratch, meaning formulating a prompt and using what it produces in our content. We plan to use AI as a tool to improve or supplement our content, but not as a tool to create for us.
  • Publishing directly. We will not publish content created by AI without first always editing, fact-checking and reviewing.

If we use AI to help us create content, we will disclose our use of AI and include an explanation about how it was used.