The Importance of Transparency in Today's Journalism

Erin McLaughlin

em054617@ohio.edu

 

Ethical guidelines for various journalism platforms, whether it be advertising or reporting, vary slightly. However, a common theme throughout is the responsibility to provide accurate and thoughtful information to your audience. 

We live in a time where news is frequently being reported and social media platforms are constantly coming out with new headlines. Many of us strictly turn to social media for our news consumption. As a result of this, trust in journalists and journalist's transparency in their reporting is more important than ever. 

SPJ, The Society of Professional Journalists, has four principles that serve as a guideline for journalists to rely on while reporting. 

Their third principle, and one of their most important principles, is to "act independently." To do this, journalists should try to avoid conflicts of interests and not accept gifts or money in exchange for spinning a story in a specific way or omitting necessary information. 

Conflicts of interest can sometimes be unavoidable. Because of this, journalists should always be clear with their audience about where their information is coming from and address if there is a conflict of interest so that the reader is aware when forming their own opinion from the article. 

In the past several years, people's trust in the journalism industry has decreased significantly. In order to try and rebuild some of that trust, it's important for journalists to be transparent with their audience and closely follow SPJ's first principle of ethics, which is to "seek truth and report it."

American's trust in the news industry according to the Pew Research Center.

 

American Press Institute's article, The best ways for publishers to build credibility through transparency offers several ways for journalists to practice transparency.

One way is to directly link the original source that they got their information from. Doing this shows readers that the information is credible and gives them the opportunity to review the information even further. If journalists maintain transparency with their audience, they can gain credibility with them as well.

Another way that journalists can create transparency with their audience is to give their readers a way to assist them in their efforts of gathering news. 

Social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter give everyone the opportunity to participate in the news cycle. Users can share their opinions and advocate for issues that they are passionate about. 

If journalists turn to some of their readers for sources, or are open to hearing critiques and suggestions from their audience, it would allow for a better and more transparent relationship between journalists and their audience.