By Maddie Vincent. The press. The fourth estate. The watchdogs. These are names journalists call themselves, names that hint at the integrity and importance of their profession. But who are journalists, really? And why does knowing them matter? Journalists tell…
By Callahan Peel. As the use of social media continues to skyrocket, many newsrooms have developed positions called “Engagement Editors.” These staffers are responsible for interacting with news consumers and are tasked with “building a relationship” with readers. But audience…
By Beau Baker. One way institutions can earn the public’s trust is by holding themselves accountable for missteps and mistakes. That’s traditionally been the role of an ombudsman but there are few left in U.S. newsrooms. Financial strain and technological…
By Lauren Heiser. Think of it as the Wizard of Oz in reverse. Instead of telling the public to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” journalists and news organizations are deliberately pulling back the curtain and revealing…
By Flint McColgan. It’s easy, now, to say there’s a divide that must be bridged between journalists and news organizations and the audience their coverage is for. A major wake-up call for the news industry came in the 2016 presidential…
The seminar on journalism and public trust was taught over the course of 13 weeks. The class met twice each week to discuss the readings and examine each topic in more detail. We’ve attached an outline and syllabus so you…
So much is being written about the topic of journalism and public trust that it’s hard to keep up. The following clips and publications were required or recommended reading, listening or viewing for students in the spring 2018 Pollner seminar…
In one-on-one interviews, we asked 19 Montana residents to name a few news sources they trusted and some they did not, and to tell us why. We also wanted to know how they would describe “quality journalism.” “Quality journalism to…
Given that almost half of our respondents described themselves as politically liberal, it’s perhaps no surprise that most of them cited Fox News as one of their least trusted news sources. More than half cited national newspapers like the New…
The Montana news consumers we talked to gave high marks to three practices by news organizations they trust and said if these practices were more widespread it would help restore trust in journalism: Fact-checking Labeling Transparency “They need to make…
