About us

Mission | Staff | Board of directors | Collaborators | DEIB | Funders

 

Our mission

We inspire and empower journalists to evolve their practices in order to actively earn trust.

Our vision

All people should have access to — and be able to identify — journalism that is responsive to their needs, equips them to navigate their communities, and reflects their diverse priorities and values. In a world in which news consumers are confused and exhausted by information, responsible journalists should be transparent and proactive about why they are worthy of trust. 

Our approach

Trusting News inspires and empowers journalists to take responsibility for demonstrating their credibility and actively earning trust. We equip journalists to listen and engage with humility and to explain their integrity through day-to-day transparency. We use research-backed, newsroom-tested strategies to support journalists in building a better relationship with the people they aim to serve. We work in a continual cycle of research, learning and sharing to make sure the work evolves. Read about our body of research here.

Our foundational beliefs

  • Communities need access to news that reflects their diverse lives and values and is responsive to their priorities and feedback. 
  • Listening and humility should be central to how journalists operate. 
  • It’s up to journalists to invest in telling the story of what makes their own work valuable and trustworthy.

Our staff:

Director: Joy Mayer (she/her) founded Trusting News in 2016 after a 20-year career in newsrooms and teaching. She spent 12 years at the Missouri School of Journalism, where she created an audience engagement curriculum and a community outreach team in the newsroom of the Columbia Missourian and also taught web design and print design. She lives in Sarasota, Florida, and can be reached at joy@TrustingNews.org or on Twitter @mayerjoy. 

Assistant director: Lynn Walsh (she/her) is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has worked in investigative journalism at the national level and locally in California, Ohio, Texas and Florida. She is the former Ethics Chair for the Society of Professional Journalists and a past national president for the organization. Based in San Diego, Lynn is also an adjunct professor and freelance journalist. She can be reached at lynn@TrustingNews.org and on Twitter @lwalsh.

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. 

Board of directors

The following seven members, alongside Joy Mayer and Lynn Walsh from the Trusting News team, make up Trusting News’ board of directors. 

Andrew DeVigal holds the endowed chair in journalism innovation and civic engagement and is the director of the Agora Journalism Center at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism & Communication. A constant connector and bridge builder, DeVigal’s leadership at the school has led to industry-recognized initiatives such as Gather, a platform to support community-minded journalists, and the Doers Gathering, a toolkit to drive community-driven solutions addressing pressing local issues. Before joining the UofO, DeVigal was the multimedia editor at The New York Times.

David Grant is the bridge between Blue Engine Collaborative and its friends and partners. Prior to joining Blue Engine, David spent four years at Facebook/Meta, managing many of its programs, investments in local media, and support efforts for news “creators.” His prior experience includes eight years at The Christian Science Monitor where, as associate publisher, he led the team responsible for driving digital and print subscriptions. He began his career as a political reporter at the Monitor. 

Richard T. Griffiths, board treasurer, retired as vice president and senior editorial director at CNN in 2017 following a 26-year career with the network. He led reporting and investigative projects that won multiple George F. Peabody Awards, the Overseas Press Club David Kaplan Award, two Emmys, a National Headliner Award and the Investigative Reporters and Editors Medal. He is active in the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the University of Georgia Grady College Board of Trust. 

Kristen Mueller is a media strategist specializing in digital transformation and performance-driven change. Muller is the former chief content officer of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR). Under her leadership, SCPR transformed from a leading public radio station in Los Angeles into one of the most innovative local journalism outlets in the country. Previously, Muller worked for CBS News as a producer for the CBS Evening News and associate producer for 60 Minutes II. She is a recipient of the prestigious JSK Fellowship at Stanford University and was a 2018 Columbia University Punch Sulzberger Executive Leadership Fellow.

Ellen Russ is a Human Resources and Operations executive with 30+ years of experience across diverse industries, including media, financial services, not-for-profit, and technology. In her most recent role as Senior Vice President at Warner Bros Discovery, Ellen led the talent strategy for over 4,500 employees across CNN and WBD Sports. Ellen holds an MS in Social and Organizational Learning from George Mason University and a BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia.

Reuben Stern, board chair, is the director of the Missouri School of Journalism’s New York program and the director of New York City partnerships for the Reynolds Journalism Institute. Previously, Stern was part of the RJI Futures Lab team and served as the managing editor for the Columbia Missourian, where he directly oversaw the day-to-day operation for the website and daily newspaper. Before joining Mizzou, Stern worked at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; The Budapest Sun, an English-language newspaper in Hungary; and the Los Angeles Daily News. 

Nick Swyter is a program manager at The New York Times specializing in launching and managing philanthropic-funded journalism initiatives. Prior to working at The Times, Nick worked as a program associate at Knight Foundation and oversaw a portfolio of journalism grants focused on topics such as pro bono legal services, reducing misinformation, local news collaborations, and startup development. He previously worked as a broadcast news producer in Arizona and as a magazine editor in Miami.

Frequent collaborators

Eve Pearlman, Spaceship Media

Eve Pearlman is the co-founder of Spaceship Media, which has a mission to reduce polarization, restore trust in journalism and build communities. Pearlman collaborated with Trusting News Director Joy Mayer to create the Dimensions of Difference guide to help newsrooms assess and bridge their differences and divides — with each other and with their communities.

Letrell Deshan Crittenden, American Press Institute

Letrell Crittenden is API’s Director of Inclusion and Audience Growth and is the creator the Inclusion index, which helps newsrooms implement concrete, sustainable DEIB changes. Crittenden is a regular collaborator with Trusting News and has co-taught the Reaching Communities of Color cohorts.

Jaisal Noor, Solutions Journalism Network

Jaisal Noor is the Democracy Cohort Manager at Solutions Journalism Network. He also manages the Advancing Democracy fellowship program, which is a collaboration with Trusting News and Hearken. Over the past decade, Jaisal has reported for Democracy Now!, The Atlantic, Bolts Magazine, The Real News Network and Baltimore Beat.

Jenn Brandel, Hearken

Jenn Brandel is a serial entrepreneur and innovator who works between industries to address the same problem set: how to design systems that listen, respond and evolve with their stakeholders. She is co-founder of Hearken, Zebras Unite, Civic Exchange Chicago, Election SOS, Democracy SOS, Advancing Democracy and WBEZ’s Curious City. She is a frequent thought partner for Trusting News and co-leads the Advancing Democracy fellowship program.

Dr. Sue Robinson, University of Madison-Wisconsin

Sue Robinson is a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an ongoing research partner with Trusting News. She is the author of three books. Her most recent book includes an exploration of Trusting News work and a new paradigm for an ethic of care in journalism: How Journalists Engage: A Theory of Trust Building, Identities, and Care.

Dr. Joshua Darr, Syracuse University

Joshua Darr is an associate professor at the Newhouse School, where he teaches classes in political communication. He is an ongoing research partner with Trusting News. A recipient of the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship, Darr’s work for this fellowship is focused on trust and polarization.

Patrick Johnson, Marquette University

Patrick Johnson is director of Student Media at Marquette University and is an ongoing research partner with Trusting News. Some of his research interests that overlap most directly with Trusting News are media literacy, an ethic of care in journalism and coverage of disadvantaged communities. He comes from nearly a decade of teaching high school journalism and English.

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.

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

 

Our funders

In May 2024, Trusting News became an independent organization, and our tax-exempt status was granted in September. 

We accept financial donations through a fiscal sponsor, Journalism Funding Partners, which supports partnerships between funders and local newsrooms. 

Our funders back either general operations or specific projects. In either case, they do not have authoritative oversight or review of our work. They are supportive of our priorities but do not tell us what actions to take, which newsrooms to work with or what recommendations to offer the industry.

Long-time partner organizations:

Two organizations have been longtime supporters of Trusting News, and through 2024, contribute almost 20% of our funding. 

The Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) works with the news industry, professors, students and others to make sure journalism has a long and bright future. As a “think-and-do” tank that opened its doors in 2008, RJI uses its guaranteed funding to work exclusively to strengthen journalism in the service of democracy. It’s part of the Missouri School of Journalism.

Trusting News was incubated as a project of RJI in 2016, and their support made it possible for a part-time research project to grow into an actual program. They served as our fiscal host through 2018 and will continue to support us through 2024.

The American Press Institute (API) supports local and community-based media through research, programs and products that foster healthy, responsive and resilient news organizations. It is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization affiliated with the News Media Alliance.

Trusting News was fiscally sponsored at API from 2019-2024. We regularly collaborated with their staff and benefited from the team’s thought leadership and support. 

Other current and past funders:

Like many journalism support organizations, most of our annual budget comes through philanthropy. If you would like to fund this project, or have ideas about who is investing in the ability of newsrooms to take ownership over the crisis of trust — in service of healthy communities and democracy — please let us know. Email founder and director Joy Mayer at joy@TrustingNews.org.

Trusting News work in the news

Here’s a look at how our work has been featured in other publications. Read more about our impact and what journalists have to say about our work here.