Regaining the public trust

It’s no real news that public trust in the media is declining. That’s a notion that has been around since the mid-1950s. It’s also something that constantly confronts journalists – just last weekend, the Missourian received countless e-mails about a “Belief in Brief” article on L. Ron Hubbard and scientology, with the stereotypical complaint that journalists often mischaracterize information or report on their own conceptions. This response was to a section of the article concerning the controversy revolving scientology and Hubbard.

Members of the media have a hard time at combating this image. We consider ourselves to be professional, but we have no license, testing or competency requirements, other than requirements set by our employers. I don’t believe we need to be licensed – fear of losing one’s license may keep reporters from uncovering the truth. However, journalists do need to have a check on their power – a sort of watchdog for the watchdog.

Enter news councils. In the industry, news councils are defined as “independent, independent, nonprofit organizations that promote trusted journalism by investigating accuracy and fairness complaints against news outlets.” It is the role of a news council to determine facts involved in the dispute and provide forums for the citizens and journalists to discuss media ethics, standards and performance. (http://www.knightfdn.org/default.asp?story=news_at_knight/releases/2006/2006_06_28_newscouncils.html)

The Minnesota News Council was formed in 1970 when the Minnesota Newspaper Association realized this declining trust in the media. (www.news-council.org) It was set up to have 24 voting members – 12 journalists and 12 mainstream – plus a sitting justice of the state Supreme Court who would serve as chairperson at hearings to determine if there was any wrongdoing on the journalists’ part and whether he or she should be sanctioned for their writing. There is an area on the Web site to fill out a complaint about state and national newspapers and news stations, and the site states that most complaints do not involve a public hearing. According to the site:

Since 1971 the Minnesota News Council has received more than 1,680 complaints, 142 of which were adjudicated through our hearing process. Of these grievances, about half have been upheld and half have been rejected.

However, the industry isn’t openly embracing news councils. The one in Minnesota is one of only a handful. However, they are being encouraged. In July 2006, the Minnesota and Washington News Councils announced that Southern California and New England had won a national competition to create news councils. (www.knightfdn.org)
News councils aren’t necessary – that’s something Gary Gilson, director of the Minnesota News Council, wrote in a 2004 article. (http://news-council.org/archives/04gg.html) However, he writes that it is a good thing to help build public trust. In light of fabrications and failed attributions such as Jayson Blair and Rick Bragg, news councils help restore some of that trust, though.

All in all, I think news councils are a good idea in theory. It gets the public involved in journalism by showing them they do have a voice if they believe they have been wronged and teaches them more about the processes, standards and ethics of the profession. The public sanction that could occur definitely keeps journalists and their employers in check. However, it seems that news councils bring about quite a few slippery slopes. How do you determine who is a journalist? We’ve had several conversations in class over whether bloggers should qualify. Will a sanction actually hurt them? And if they aren’t considered a journalist, their case shouldn’t even have standing in the news council.

Will news councils be a part of the future of journalism? I think they will remain, but play a small role. For the most part, news organizations will listen to reader complaints and get to the bottom of the problem. And we’ve seen in cases such as that with Jayson Blair and The New York Times that the newspapers work to be transparent and right the wrong. News councils can play a role in winning the public trust. But I think newspapers and organizations can do the same thing.