Newsrooms can rebuild their business model more speedily and successfully through restoring trust among audiences inundated by misinformation, according to new Trust Project research published by the International News Media Association (INMA).
The data from dozens of recent Trust Project interviews and other public surveys show we can succeed — and the moment to act is now. Due to the global pandemic and the surrounding societal upheaval, people are awakening to the value of accurate news and their own role in choosing it.
Now is the time to double-down on earning trust
“The news industry must connect even more deeply to the principles of social responsibility at journalism’s heart and become the people’s trusted, responsible, and responsive ally. We must do so not just for philosophical reasons, but for our very survival,” Trust Project CEO Sally Lehrman writes in the report. Rebuilding trust is the most fundamental economic and ethical consideration news companies are confronting today. It must be intentional and executed with urgency.
Four urgent steps
Lehrman describes four steps necessary for newsrooms to rebuild trust right now, based on the recent Trust Project user research:
- Acknowledge change is needed.
- Strengthen standards and policies.
- Heighten transparency.
- Engage.
News media companies around the world are turning toward subscription revenue, yet audiences will not pay for that which they do not trust. The report summarizes also offers case studies from four Trust Project news partners: El Comercio (Peru), Il Sole 24 Ore (Italy), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), and MediaNews Group (United States).
Learn more
You can read more by downloading “How News Brands Are Rebuilding Trust,” published by the International News Media Association (INMA), a global community of leading news media companies reinventing how they engage audiences and grow revenue in a multi-platform environment. The report is available for free to INMA members at www.inma.org/reports and to news partners in the Trust Project upon request.