LEADERSHIP
BACKGROUND
Over the past few years, consumers have experienced an increasing lack of trust in news organizations, and some of their skepticism is warranted. In my Freedom, Responsibility and Ethics of the Mass Media class (JOUR 501), I learned that there are two different meanings of “fake news,” a definition and a connotation. The traditional definition is what most people are familiar with: false or misleading information presented to be factual. The connotation was created by Donald Trump, who called “fake news” anything that disagreed with him. This means that he often called factual news “fake,” because it misaligned with his agenda. When he began using the term, the public would hear this knowing only the traditional definition of “fake news,” which brought confusion and animosity towards both the president and the media. Over the course of Trump’s presidency, such frequent utterance of the words “fake news” numbed the public to what it actually meant. No matter what was published or how true it was, someone was calling it “fake.”
In my second key insight, “ethics,” I learned the importance of critical thinking in the newsroom. Journalists are the mediators between politicians and the people, with the power to ruin reputations, sway public opinion and act as catalysts for positive change. With the immense influence that journalists have on how news consumers view the world, it is vital that they report stories with accuracy and fairness in mind. I practiced having influence in my experience as the president of Kappa Kappa Gamma, where the lessons I had learned in journalism classes applied. In this role, it was equally important that I be careful with my words, because 330 women were listening and making plans according to them.
In my Freedom, Responsibility and Ethics of the Mass Media class, I wrote a research paper on how someone can ethically consume news using a formula of three ethical theories. This allowed consumers to sift through a large number of media using a simple process to weigh out the articles ethically. The research associated with creating this paper consisted of critically thinking through every situation that could appear in the media and how a standardized formula could account for every one of them. For my leadership section of graduating with leadership distinction in professional and civic engagement, I’d like to use the same critical thinking process to propose the flipside: a standardized process for news organizations to produce ethical news.
IMPORTANCE OF ISSUE
A journalist has two important roles: to inform the public and hold institutions accountable. When Edward Snowden exposed the government for infringing on the privacy of Americans, he went to journalists. When Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, he went to journalists. Even Donald Trump’s taxes were published by journalists. Some of the nation’s most important stories have been told through the lens of the media, but the dwindling trust in journalists discourages future “Snowdens” and “Ellsbergs” from telling their stories.
A strong, trustworthy media system is necessary to have a properly functioning democracy, where the people have a say in government. The media acts as the voice of the people – the fourth branch of the checks and balances system. Without trust in it, democracy as we know it won’t be the same.
GOAL
To create gradual trust in the media by ensuring news sources are reporting factual information
RECOMMENDATION
Create a checklist for a local news publication to follow, which will be visible to readers. The checklist will reflect the accuracy of facts, any present bias, diversity of thought and other important factors determined by different stakeholders.
IMPLEMENTATION
EVALUATION & NEXT STEPS
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Research local news organizations on their factuality and identify a news source willing to participate in the experiment.
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Speak with different stakeholders and audiences with thought diversity, including ethics professors and general news consumers, about their feelings towards the news source, what they expect out of the media and what can be improved to reflect more ethical reporting. Identify trends among responses.
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Craft a realistic checklist that the source can refer to with each new piece they publish, reflecting the conversations with stakeholders in the previous step. For example, the checklist might contain questions like:​​
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Does our article attribute negative stereotypes to minority groups?​
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Does our article include quotes and opinions from multiple demographics?
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Are our facts from a credible source?
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Has our article violated the privacy of any individuals?
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Create a seal to be placed on each news piece, informing readers it has been written and looked over with the readers' interests in mind.
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Distribute the checklist to the news source and arrange a period of time for it to be used.
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Observe first-hand the process of journalists using the checklist throughout the experiment, to ensure it is being used correctly.
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After said period of time, interview the source on the effectiveness of the checklist and question the public once again of their perception of the source.
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Evaluate responses for effectivity of the checklist and engage in next steps.
To quantitatively evaluate the effectivity of the checklist on the news source, look for improvements in readership, number of comments, quality of comments, social engagement, overall interactions and awareness. Qualitatively, speak with journalists and editors on the process of using the checklist. Was it easy or burdensome? How much additional time did it take? Did the quality of your articles improve? Additionally, speak with the source's readers on their perception of the brand.
If the checklist is proven effective in producing more ethical news, organize a professional development activity with working journalists to introduce the checklist, how to use it and the impact it can have on their readership. Make the activity short, available online and easily accessible to encourage participation. Outside of this activity, advertise the checklist and the importance of the corresponding seal to journalists and news consumers alike. With news consumers aware of the ethics seal, they will be looking for it on articles they read, so journalists will be more inclined to use the checklist. To promote the ethical use of the checklist by journalists, readers would be able to see the checklist for each article, exactly where the facts came from and the author’s reason for writing it. Just as journalists hold institutions like the government accountable, the readers would be able to hold the news sources accountable as well.
On a pre-professional level, speak with the dean of the university’s journalism school to integrate this checklist into introductory journalism courses. This practice will inform the next generation of reporters to think about their pieces ethically, rather than waiting to learn about it in a 500-level class like I did. By introducing an accuracy checklist as the first thing a journalism student learns, the idea of ethics would remain relevant throughout their other courses. Students would spend four years reflecting on this initial lesson, building their journalism education around ethical reporting, which will create a more trustworthy workforce of reporters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The gradual loss of trust in the media suggests there might come a time when trust is lost completely, which would be fatal to our democracy. The implementation of a checklist could minimize skepticism towards the media because it would offer the public news articles which have been written ethically. This would, in turn, popularize ethical news sources and filter out tabloid-like media. As a result, journalists could become trustworthy again.
