The election is over, now what? Here are four ways to navigate your overwhelm and focus on serving your community

We know to expect the unexpected during election season. Election results are no exception to this.  While the 2020 presidential election perhaps helped familiarize us with the idea that vote tallying can take a while, it’s more than likely there will be questions, misassumptions, and mis- and disinformation about how votes are counted and who […]

Many people will be paying extra attention to the news next Tuesday.  It’s important that as journalists, we’re focused on being relentlessly useful for our audiences and showcasing what makes our news credible and accurate.  Today we’re sharing quick things you can do to demonstrate credibility on Election Day. (We mean it when we say […]

While I was watching the presidential debate on TV, a breaking news alert appeared and grabbed my attention. I had the hoped-for reaction: “What’s going on?” But then it just led to anchors at a desk previewing the debate — a scheduled and planned event. Turns out, the “breaking news” was just about the debate itself. As […]

Trusting News director Joy Mayer recently shared this post from a Facebook group she’s a part of, where someone suggested a local news station should lose its broadcast license for running a specific political ad. In the comments under the post, people said the newsroom should be sued for making false statements and accused them […]

CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash took a lot of heat earlier this summer for their light moderation style — and lack of live fact-checking — during a presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The format was an intentional choice, agreed to by both campaigns. The approach wasn’t based on a lack of preparation, laziness or a […]

How accessible is your election coverage?

Hearken released a thoughtful guide on how journalists can cover pro-Palestine communities more responsibly

Many people avoid the news, especially political news. Here are three strategies for how journalists can combat this.

Recently a journalist asked for advice on how they could’ve handled what they deemed a pretty major correction for their news outlet. The journalist had quickly corrected the mistake, but they were curious about best practices for being transparent in alerting their audience to the correction. Specifically, since the mistake was corrected quickly, how obvious […]

Human beings are complicated. We don’t fit into easy buckets, and we’re full of contradictions.  We also hate to be misunderstood or oversimplified. It’s universally frustrating to have someone try to describe us and just not get it quite right. I heard an interview recently that helped clarify for me the role storytellers play in […]

In our recent program around confronting news avoidance, newsrooms in the cohort heard how people felt very overwhelmed by the news, both by its volume and content. These news avoiders told our partner journalists they wanted news that felt more basic — and as one newsroom put it, simply helped people “with important civic processes.” How can […]

Journalists go to great lengths to eliminate any semblance of bias. This often entails taking precautions like not sharing too many personal details online or with sources. But of course, who we are as people affects how we do journalism — whether we’re talking openly about it or not. Our values, experiences, ethics, and surroundings all influence […]

New research from the annual Reuters Digital News Report highlights factors that influence people’s trust in news. According to the report, transparency and fairly reflecting communities in coverage are critical when it comes to being seen as a trusted news source. The study focused on eight specific factors known to affect trust, chosen by Reuters […]

Recent research released by Pew confirms that many people do not understand the financial crisis that local news is in. The survey found that most adults (63%) think their local news outlets are doing “very well or somewhat well” financially. This, of course, is far from our reality as journalists. (We all remember the bleak […]

At Trusting News, we’re often asked how journalists should handle misinformation. This is not surprising, given how both the public and journalists agree it’s a major issue. But research shows that as much as journalists think it’s a problem, they rarely address it in their reporting. (In this Pew study, two-thirds said almost none of […]

Note: This is the third installment of a three-part newsletter series on News Avoidance. Read part one, Learn about news avoiders with this guide, and part two, Tell news avoiders these things about your journalism. As journalists, our news habits are not at all normal. We tend to be tuned in all the time. We […]

Note: This is the second installment of a three-part newsletter series on News Avoidance. Read part one, Learn about news avoiders with this guide, and part three, Adapt your products for news avoiders in three ways. News avoiders often don’t see their distance from news as a problem. Not only do they not feel like […]

Note: This is the first installment of a three-part newsletter series on News Avoidance. Read part two, Tell news avoiders these things about your journalism, and part three, Adapt your products for news avoiders in three ways. The more people tune the news out, noting that it doesn’t feel relevant or important for their lives, […]

Yes, plug-ins may make it easier — but not having them shouldn’t stop you from working to build trust.

Journalists, get inspired by how these two local newsrooms are inviting accountability and transparency into their elections coverage.

More people get news from TV than from radio or print. And when it comes to access to news across diverse communities, it’s also true that local TV is more preferred by people of color in the U.S. than newspapers or digital-first local news. It’s free, and it’s widely available. Thanks to research, we know TV newsrooms can […]

Think about the election reporting you produce or consume. It probably contains information about a ballot initiative or a candidate’s views on a topic, but do you ever notice how those explanations are often woven throughout stories? They’re sandwiched between quotes and part of a larger narrative we’re telling. That’s not always bad, of course. […]

Something we remind newsrooms of often is that the majority of people who interact with your news are likely very casual news consumers who see just a small fraction of the work you do.  You may be part of a mission-driven, ethical newsroom that regularly has internal discussions about how to provide fair, accurate coverage. But […]

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 […]

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.

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.