Lots of people question whether the images they see online are real or not. These concerns are not new, but with the rise of AI, this uncertainty around legitimacy has only increased. Just a few weeks ago, Kate Middleton’s altered family photo fanned major online conspiracies and a slew of misinformation about what was going on with the […]
Congratulations to these eight journalists who will work on either writing a corrections policy or inserting transparency into daily coverage
We’re announcing a new opportunity for journalists to confront news avoidance this spring working alongside a cohort of newsrooms
New free, online course will help journalists better cover elections by centering coverage on communities and solutions
We’re announcing two new opportunities for journalists to confront news avoidance this spring
We’re excited to kick off another year of the Advancing Democracy fellowship, a virtual fellowship for newsrooms to transform their political and election coverage. More than 70 journalists across 20 newsrooms will participate in this nine-month fellowship. The fellowship is run in partnership with us at Trusting News along with Hearken and Solutions Journalism Network. […]
Journalists in the cohort will work to build trust alongside other newsrooms, researchers and Trusting News staff. Each journalist will receive a $250 stipend.
Trusting News Director Joy Mayer trains a group of Koch Fellows at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Feb. 7, 2024. Photo by Gil Asakawa.
Some of these Advancing Democracy newsrooms used the checklist while covering the election and politics in late 2023. The journalists were asked to take notes on which stories they used the checklist for and answer questions about any changes they made related to sourcing, language (in the story and headline) and story framing.
The New York Times is getting industry attention after announcing the rollout of their new staff bio pages, which they call “enhanced bios.” The accolades they are receiving are rightfully deserved: These bios do a great job of highlighting both the ethics and expertise of their journalists, as well as show the humanity and mission behind their […]
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
The start of a new year usually is accompanied by a slew of new priorities, KPIs and goals for newsrooms. On top of that, it’s an election year. We know there are many things (rightfully) demanding priority and your attention. As journalists who care about building trust but who might be feeling strapped for time, we want […]
News research into a joint effort from Trusting News, Hearken, Solutions Journalism shows progress with newsroom’s election coverage
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
This weekly Trust Tips newsletter shares quick, actionable tips for how journalists can earn and sustain trust. Subscribe to get it in your inbox at trustingnews.org/newsletter.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, impacting communities and ecosystems worldwide. Yet, when it comes to climate coverage in the media, there’s a growing sense of frustration and despair among audiences.
Discussing diversity issues and working to produce news coverage that more accurately reflects and depicts what is happening in your community can be a daunting task. While this work isn’t easy, at Trusting News, we believe it’s essential if you want to build trust with your community, engage with them and keep them informed through […]
Answering questions and building public trust at the same time
Don’t give up on people who have low trust in your work
Journalists, we have to stop assuming people understand the mission, ethics and processes behind our work. We can’t let ourselves get lumped in with perceptions of “the media.” Instead, we need to actively work to ear
Talking publicly about diversity issues can be challenging. But, as with anything journalists do, actions and intentions (especially good ones) are likely to go unnoticed by news consumers.
Listening is a crucial component when it comes to building new audiences. We have research that shows this, but it also makes sense: If journalists want to provide coverage that is relevant and useful to people they aren’t already effectively reaching, they have to first take the time to get a sense of what those people […]
Through the Leap innovation training program, The International Center for Journalists and Trusting News challenged journalists to answer this question: What can we build to increase trust in journalism now — and ensure misinformation and polarization do not find a foothold in future spaces?
When it comes to trust, local news organizations have been the bright spot for the journalism community as years of research and polling continue to show people trust in local news content more than national. For many people working in local news, that trend brings comfort, hope and sometimes makes the issue of building trust seem not […]
We’ve worked with partner newsrooms to create and refine a tool for journalists — a checklist designed to make room in the editing process for journalists to be intentional about:
If newsrooms can avoid polarizing writing and editing choices, they may be able to retain and attract more readers from the full political spectrum. That’s the thinking behind a resource Trusting News has been testing and refining.
At Trusting News we wanted to see how journalists would feel after committing to using a depolarizing lens with some of their coverage for two months. Here’s what we learned: At Trusting News we rely on newsroom partners as we craft advice for journalists who want to build trust with the people they aim to […]
If you’re a journalist wanting to reach more diverse audiences, especially audiences that have been historically ignored or underserved by your newsroom, a lot of that work starts with laying a foundation of trust. Without understanding the assumptions that have led to distrust and the roadblocks that exist in creating sustained relationships, it’s almost impossible for […]
There’s no big secret when it comes to building new audiences. There’s no new beat or newsletter that can be created to undo decades of harm news organizations have caused to certain groups of people. And there’s no magic tool journalists can use that will automatically help them earn the trust of and reach their […]
Instead of keeping all of your election planning and decision-making internal, share what you are doing publicly. Explain the focus of your stories, discuss what issues and races you are prioritizing and why, and talk about the goals of your overall coverage.
Leigh Wright, an associate professor of journalism at Murray State University, worked with students to explain their reporting process by recording short audio clips and embedding them at the top of their stories.
After noticing an uptick of inappropriate comments, personal attacks and misinformation on COVID-19-related Facebook posts, a team at the Keene Sentinel — James Rinker, the digital community engagement journalist, and Cecily Weisburgh, an executive editor — made the decision that it was time to disable comments on posts related to the pandemic.
The work of journalists is telling other people’s stories. It’s what we do every day. Why then are we so uncomfortable telling our own stories? Maybe it’s because we learned in journalism school that it’s not about us, but about our subjects and our readers instead. Maybe we’re just shy. (I’ve heard from many of […]
The news is tragic, and it’s unfolding in an all-too-familiar way. Innocent people have died. Society tries to make sense of the shooter’s motivation and mindset. People and organizations express outrage and sympathy. Paths forward are offered as if they’re simple solutions. Actual change and progress feel incremental or nonexistent. And journalists try to document […]
Whose voices are missing in your newsroom? Would you like to have them involved in sharing the stories you tell about your community? If so, does your hiring process allow you to learn about the views and experiences that inform how job candidates approach their work?
If you’re a journalist who has faced criticism about national coverage published in your new products but not produced by your journalists, you’re not alone. Far from it, actually. We regularly hear from local newsrooms frustrated and overwhelmed by complaints related to the wire coverage they publish. Some local newsrooms we work with have said […]
It may sound simple enough: Tell your audience who you are and what you value. But for some reason, journalists and newsrooms find themselves either struggling to put those explanations into words or burying them somewhere on their website where few people find them. Two newsrooms of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (a large, international news organization) wanted […]
We know from user research that news consumers value depth. We also know that people say they want to see evidence of fair reporting and thoughtful decision-making.
When journalists tell stories through visuals, there are a lot of options for where to turn. There are also a variety of ways to capture a photo, edit a video, and share visual content. The bottom line: A lot of decisions are made by journalists and newsrooms related to the types of visual content they […]
Do journalists have solid ethics? It’s a question that, depending on who you ask, will probably result in very different answers. Ask a room full of journalists, and they will probably say, “of course we do.” Ask a group of students (something I do often) and you’re likely to get mixed answers — eventually landing […]
Research with WCPO helped unlock insights into how TV news stations could rebuild trust with their audience by having them attend a morning TV news meeting.
When journalists practice transparency around their processes, their goals and their values, news consumers tend to respond positively. Sometimes, they even spend more money on journalism. That’s the case with an experiment we ran this summer with PolitiFact. We divided the audience of their weekly email newsletter into segments to test two things: In both […]
The latest data from Gallup shows less than four in 10 U.S. adults say they have “a great deal” (7%) or “a fair amount” (29%) of trust and confidence in the media to report the news “fully, accurately, and fairly,” while more than six in 10 have “not very much” trust (29%) or “none at all” […]
What do journalists tend to have in common, and what about us is the same or different from the communities we serve? To put a finer point on it: Who are journalists as human beings, and how do our own experiences inform the news we produce? These questions are central to the work we’re doing […]
News consumers often say they want stories that “just give me the facts” and “include both sides.” When asked what they’re looking for in responsible journalism, at the very top of the list for news consumers will be one word: balance. (At least, it’s at the top of the list from 81 user interviews conducted by Trusting […]
Journalists’ use of catch-all phrases, generalized descriptions and labels can make people feel oversimplified and placed into one-size-fits-all categories. This can be true for organizations people belong to, for religious groups, for different opinions, for causes people support, for racial groups, for age groups, for ethnic groups, etc. Rather than painting complex, nuanced pictures of […]
At Trusting News, rather than accepting distrust in journalism, we work to better understand it so we can help journalists actively earn trust. We believe healthy democracies depend on civic dialogue and a shared set of facts. We also believe local news can play an especially important role in bridging conversations across political divides. With […]
Do your public safety stories paint an accurate picture of life in your community? This post guides you through an assessment that will help you move toward coverage that builds trust.
In our work with newsrooms, there are ideas we recommend that are almost universally applicable when it comes to demonstrating credibility and earning trust with a community. They include doing a better job explaining journalism ethics, a newsroom’s mission, funding, the reporting process and our integrity. At Trusting News we train journalists on transparency and […]
How Ju-Don Marshall and staff at WFAE in Charlotte have helped turn the station’s operations around to be an engagement-centered newsroom.
This step-by-step guide walks newsrooms through creating an effective “About us” page that will help them earn trust and demonstrate transparency.
This post was written by Newsroom partner Jennifer Hefty. Most of us have heard the chorus. You know the one I’m talking about. “How could this article be so biased?” “How could they get x, y, and z so wrong?” “Why are these reporters insisting on dividing us instead of bringing us together?” “Clearly, these […]
If your news organization is providing your audience with the solutions journalism they want, you should make sure they know that. Trusting News can help.
How one newsroom’s audience survey revealed public misunderstandings, frustrations, and curiosity about the newspaper.
Here’s how partner station WCPO got on the record about the changes they made to their mugshot policy with their audience — on air and online.
Research by Trusting News and the Center for Media Engagement found that TV newsrooms can build trust with their audiences by explaining why a story is covered.
Here’s how Mike Canan at WCPO hosts AMAs (also called ask me anythings) with their station’s TV viewers on Facebook.
How one investigative newsroom team strategically employed ‘trust nuggets’ to inject transparency into their stories and build trust.
A Plus The Coloradoan The Enid News & Eagle Fort Worth Star-Telegram The Fresno Bee The Kansas City Star KLRU-TV Newsy Religion News Service Sarasota Herald-Tribune Schools Week St. Louis Magazine The Standard-Examiner WCPO TV
Helping journalists earn news consumers’ trust Follow along as we demystify trust in news and empower journalists to demonstrate credibility and actively earn trust. Journalism has an education problem. We have to stop assuming people know how we do our jobs. We can’t let ourselves get lumped in with perceptions of “the media.” Instead, we need […]
A new study from the Center for Media Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin found adding a box explaining your story process can improve a user’s perceptions of a news organization. The research was done on behalf of Trusting News and completed this month. The goal of the testing was to see whether adding explanations […]