Newsrooms worldwide are uniting to show the public how journalism is made and why trusted reporting matters.
From today to October 1, newsrooms across the world are uniting in a global campaign to show the public how journalism is made and why trusted reporting matters. The campaign, which has attracted more than 1,000 news organisations in 100 countries, asks readers to know the facts, understand what matters and choose trusted journalism, because it is their right to know.
During the campaign, organised by the World Association of News Publishers’ (WAN-IFRA) World Editors Forum, the Canadian Journalism Foundation and Project Kontinuum, newsrooms will use their platforms to explain their processes to their audiences and invite them to see what it takes to produce trusted journalism. The organisers have lined up 20 opinion pieces by respected journalists that participating newsrooms will publish.
With the campaign’s focal day being September 28, which coincides with the United Nations’ International Day for Universal Access to Information, the campaign gives newsrooms an opportunity to make a collective case for why trusted news is a public right rather than a favour handed down by those in power. Its key message is: “Know the facts. Understand what matters. Choose trusted journalism. Because it’s your right to know.”
The campaign is an apt response to the pressure journalism faces. Newsroom closures and shrinking budgets, artificial intelligence and the spread of disinformation are existential threats. But, as WAN-IFRA chief executive officer Stig Ørskov observes: “News organisations are very good at telling other people’s stories. We have not always been equally good at telling our own.”
A thousand news organisations sending out one message on the same day will make it loud enough for the world to take notice.
“Alone, any one of us can be dismissed. Together, in dozens of languages and more than a hundred countries, we’re harder to ignore. That’s the whole point of doing this on the same day. Not a fundraiser. A rallying point,” said Branko Brkic, founder of Project Kontinuum and co-organiser of World News Day.
Indeed, journalism is on the cross, and the question is whether it can be saved, and who will save it. The politicians are shouting: “You vilify and mock us. Save yourself.” The corrupt leaders mock it: “You keep exposing our scandals, you holier-than-thou. Save yourself.” The criminals chime in: “You hounded us out of hiding. Save yourself.”
Even the goons who are unhappy about being unmasked by courageous journalism in the past are waiting in the wings to drive the nail into the coffin.
Will journalism save itself? Can it survive the mockery and rise again?
A recent article by Prof Tom Rosenstiel, published by the Poynter Institute, offers hope for journalism, not from politicians or tech companies, but from journalism itself. He argues that to survive, journalism must become indispensable: News organisations need to understand what audiences need and build their journalism around those needs.
He calls for a shift from a journalism of attention to a journalism of value.
“We should focus more on helping readers, listeners and viewers live their lives, understand one another and make their communities better places to live. It means asking, as often as we can, how we can make this information “actionable”. That may mean offering solutions, he says.
News organisations must understand people’s actual information needs, “not just the ones journalists might imagine they have. And producing each piece of content—whether it’s a story, a graphic, a table, a video—with a specific job to be done in mind”.
To understand audience needs, news organisations must study their readers, listeners and viewers, and then train their journalists to produce content according to those needs.
One of the needs Prof Rosenstiel identifies is “give me agency”. Audiences don’t just want to be informed about an impending danger, but they also want to know what they can do to avert it.
The recent series by the Nation on illicit alcohol responded to this user need. It exposed the problem and went to great lengths to explain the dangers of consuming contraband alcohol. But, most importantly, it gave consumers agency. It did not leave them helpless. An explainer guided consumers on how to confirm the authenticity of a drink. The explainer proved popular, especially on social media platforms popular among young people.
The editors should consider more stories that give readers agency and those that respond to other needs, such as “help me understand”, or “apply it to my current situation”.
Happy World News Day.
Follow ourWhatsApp channel for breaking news updates and more stories like this.
Contact the Public Editor to raise ethical concerns or request a review of published material. Reach out: Email: [email protected]. Mobile number: 0741978786.
