Gr732313@ohio.edu
In public relations, transparency is a very crucial aspect to have. With transparency, your customers and other businesses you work with can see what is going on with your products. Having your company's information open to the public really helps create real relationships. Consumers want an authentic relationship with the company as well as a good product. With transparency you gain trust and connection with your consumer.
Where News Media Stands?
In an article published 10 years ago by Alicia Shepard, news outlets were scored from best to worst out of four points. The highest score was given to The Guardian with 3.8. The New York Times was next with a score of 3.4 with BBC News following with 3.2 Some lower outlets were The Wall Street Journal with 2.0 and Fox News with 1.2. These numbers were back in 2007 and are probably way worse today.
It's harder to practice transparency than it is to just say your news organization is trustworthy. Journalists are projected to be the honest and produce non-bias reports to help inform their readers. But now people are so skeptical of reporters and their own agendas getting in the way that they rather not believe them, or get news from a source that share their own ideals.
What Companies Do It Well?
Companies like Patagonia and The Washington Post do a great job at practicing transparency. Patagonia created The Footprint Chronicles, a page on their website that shows their textile mills, factories and farms that help make their products. The Footprint Chronicles also inform the consumer what materials they use and how the products are made. Since Patagonia really cares about environmental issues and working conditions, they make sure their products reflect their ideals.
The Washington Post, most notably know for reporting on Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal, is a good news outlet that practices great transparency. TWP has always hired great reporters and has won Pulitzer Prizes to back it up. TWP is now owned by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos according to an article by Paul Glader here and that's a good thing. Amazon is another good example on how businesses should be with transparency.
What Needs To Change?
News outlets and companies need to be more transparent where they get their information or what their agendas are. Some news outlets favor a democratic left and will always side with information that benefits that ideal. People want the truth and if they cant find it, they will search and think for themselves. Businesses must take trust more seriously now keep it. That means news outlets must come out and share where they got their information and if their sources can be trusted. Because if not, people will do their own research and could be volatile to journalism.
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