We created a trust audit to help your newsroom assess and decide where you should be working to earn your community’s trust
Resources
How newsrooms can use a checklist to avoid polarization in political coverage
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.
Use these checklists to start (or level up) your trust building
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 […]
Get on the record about how you cover democracy
Don’t give up on people who have low trust in your work
Step-by-step guide: How journalists can talk to people who don’t trust news (and build trust doing it)
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 […]
Advice from journalists: Why we’ve invested in listening to people who don’t trust us
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 […]
People don’t assume journalists have ethics. Here’s how you can highlight yours.
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 […]
Reinvent your crime coverage to build trust
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.
Journalists, hold yourself accountable for earning the trust of BIPOC communities. This rubric will help.
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 […]
