Trusting News
Lamar Henderson | February 3, 2016
Follow along as we demystify trust in news and empower journalists to demonstrate credibility and actively earn trust.
Journalists, we have to stop assuming people know how we do our jobs. We can’t let ourselves get lumped in with perceptions of “the media.” Instead, we need to actively work to earn trust from our communities by telling them why we’re worthy of their time, trust and support.
Since 2016, the Trusting News staff has been working with newsrooms to learn how people decide what news to trust and help journalists implement trust-building strategies. Click on the links below to learn more about our strategies and how you can get involved.
Downloads related to Trusting News
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Trusting News Project Report
: In interviews with local journalists, 81 news consumers explained the qualities of trustworthy journalism, perceptions of fact-checking organizations, and expectations of transparency.
April 4, 2019
Stories about Trusting News
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Journalists, how do you earn followers’ trust on social media?
We know the public’s trust in what journalists do is low. We also know news consumers have countless choices for what to read, watch, believe and share. How can we earn — or earn back — the public’s trust?
February 3, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
How do news consumers decide what information to trust, and how can journalists teach users to be smarter consumers and sharers?
Trust us, you’re going to want to read this series about social media
April 20, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
Know who you are, know who your audience is and practice consistent, real interactions between the two parties. And those interactions need to involve listening, reflecting back what you hear and responding.
Earning trust on social: Engage authentically
April 21, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
What do we know about how trust and sharing on social media work? We know people trust their own friends and families. They trust people who are already trusted by people they trust — much more than they trust brands.
Earning trust on social: Deploy your fans
April 22, 2016 -
Close encounters of the media-bias kind
Journalism has a marketing problem, and we’re not doing nearly enough to fix it. What separates the work you're doing from the rest of “the media?”
May 10, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
A Plus is one of 16 news organizations spending the summer testing strategies for building trust on social media. These outlets are trying new kinds of posts or reframing the way they share stories.
Earning trust on social: 16 news outlets will test strategies this summer
June 20, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
In the midst of so much to do, how and when do journalists take the time to learn more about our industry? And what formats or platforms make learning easy?
We asked journalists: How do you fit in time to learn about industry information?
October 6, 2016 -
Earning trust on social
As we all work to establish journalism’s credibility and figure how to earn the trust of cynical news consumers, we’re looking for journalists willing to take a radical step: Invite individual members of your community to talk to you about what they trust.
Are you willing to talk to your audience about trust?
January 17, 2017 -
Trusting News
How do people decide what news is trustworthy? How can journalists influence what users consume and share on social media? And in the era of fake stories, when untruths often travel faster than the truth, what can credible journalists do to stand out?
Ideas worth stealing: These strategies will help journalists earn news consumers’ trust
February 8, 2017 -
Trusting News
Relationships take work. You don’t get intimacy without putting in some time. You don’t ask for favors without offering the equivalent yourself. You earn trust by being there consistently, and by listening.
How building trust with news consumers is like dating
February 23, 2017 -
Trusting News
It turns out, plenty of news consumers are eager to talk to journalists about trust. The 30 official newsroom partners in the Trusting News interview project have begun reaching out to their audiences, and the results have exceeded my expectations.
Trust us, your news consumers really want to talk to you about trust
March 2, 2017 -
Trusting News
As part of the Trusting News project, 28 partner newsrooms asked their audiences to tell them about their views on the credibility of news.
Who trusts — and pays for — the news? Here’s what 8,728 people told us
July 27, 2017 -
Trusting News
A 2016 Gallup poll revealed that just 32 percent of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in mass media.
Journalists, let’s invest in trust, not just expect it
November 17, 2017 -
Trusting News
More than 30 newsrooms are making an investment in discovering how best to demonstrate credibility and earn trust by coming on board the Trusting News project.
Newsrooms join Trusting News work
January 8, 2018 -
Trusting News
As newsrooms have joined the Trusting News work, we’ve asked them to think about how they might introduce the work to their audiences and how those audiences might be invited to weigh in.
Earning trust by inviting questions … and answering them
January 22, 2018 -
A more nuanced understanding of ‘journalism’ is needed — and we need our communities’ help
Trusting News works to empower journalists to demonstrate credibility by helping people understand journalism. Never has that been more important than today.
June 29, 2018 -
Earn trust by sharing what motivates your journalism
Journalists, we need to talk more about the “why” of what we do. What does the profession exist to do? Who do we serve? Why are we doing this story or covering this issue?
June 29, 2018 -
Trusting News
At Trusting News, we’re eager to see more than 350 editorials planned for today as part of an effort started by The Boston Globe to fight back against Trump’s “dirty war against the free press.”
Journalists: Defend your work through action, not just with editorials
August 16, 2018 -
A Trusting News analysis: What news consumers say they trust
Fundamentally, news consumers trust journalism that they find to be balanced, in-depth, honest and reputable. Those qualities appeared over and over in an analysis of 81 in-depth interviews our newsroom partners conducted with members of their communities.
April 4, 2019
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Donald W. Reynolds