Trust Tip 10: If you strive for fairness, tell your audience

Published on April 29, 2019 by Lynn Walsh | Reading Time: < 1 minute

Ask news consumers what they’re looking for in responsible journalism, and at the very top of the list will be one word: balance. (At least, it’s at the top of the list from 81 user interviews conducted by Trusting News partners. Often mentioned alongside the word balance are the words “both sides.” These are tricky concepts, of course. There are usually more than two sides. And the primary goal of journalism is not to produce a scale with two equal sides. Too often, balance is equated with equal air time or column inches, and that’s not the business we’re in. To read more from this edition click here and you can sign up for the weekly “Trust Tips” newsletter by clicking here.

Lynn Walsh

lynn@trustingnews.org | + posts

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.