Bridging the Gap: Rebuilding Citizen Trust in the Media

This publication, commissioned by the Open Society Foundation and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, describes the results of a study on how journalists are experimenting with building trust and engaging with audiences. The authors surveyed 17 organisations and conducted interviews with representatives of 15 organisations in order to profile those working "to build bridges with their readers, viewers and listeners and deliver relevant news to local audiences....The report also includes an annotated bibliography of academic studies on media trust and media literacy and a list of ongoing initiatives as well as sidebars on past efforts to boost media credibility."

The publication: reviews recent lessons on media trust and scrutiny learned in a time of eroding trust in media and heightened criticism; highlights literature on journalistic trust; describes the media environment; reviews main findings of a study of organisations created in response to an information gap in society and with the objective of building trust with audiences; and profiles each organisation interviewed, including those from the United Kingdom, Serbia, Hungary, Germany, Argentina, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Lebanon, and the United States.

To give one example of an organisation profiled, start-up Hivisasa, based in Nairobi, aims to connect writers to readers while providing coverage of neglected local Kenyan news. It has a recruitment video for citizen journalists and a free online academy for its writers. It runs social media accounts attached to the counties it serves, as clearing house for reader comment on hyper-local stories. It is available on mobile phones to reach a wider and more rural readership. It gets 20 million monthly page views - readers purchase data bundles to access the site; mobile companies do not charge Hivisasa for dissemination. It has a Facebook page with 500,000 followers. Trust is attributed to using a wide group of citizen journalists, engaging with local issues and audiences, and taking no political stance.

From the Executive Summary, some key survey findings include the following information from those organisations:

• Organisations are concerned by falling trust in media and media credibility, but focused on immediate fixes such as: engagement with readers; journalism practices, including audience engagement; ethical standards; and news gathering practices.
• They are using digital technology to communicate with audiences, involving their readers in sourcing and sometimes verifying information. "Some conduct focus groups and online surveys. Responding to comments online is part of their engagement efforts."
• Audiences are receiving information on mobile phones, laptops, print newspapers, and radio. 
• Commenting - online and via email - now plays a role. "Half of the outlets say they respond to comments online."
• Organisations are making personal contact with their audiences by going into the community, offering trainings, and inviting readers to contribute to their reporting. 
• They are hoping to expand their geographic reach, coverage and activities, "but few are financially self-sufficient or have the resources to do so."
• Editors say that "their readers appreciate investigative reporting as well as stories that touch on their daily lives."
• "Delivering accurate information is a way of gaining credibility in a world of diminishing trust."
• The authors may have found that audience size is inversely proportional to the quality of content produced. "Some groups with large followings... promote headlines and short snippets rather than carrying out deep investigative reporting. (This finding may be due to our small sample and not signify a broader trend. Raseef22 is one notable exception.)"
• Audiences are not as diverse as hoped for and are sometimes different from what their founders had originally expected. "Their audiences tend to be educated and urban and, in some cases, include large diaspora communities."
• Outlets "cater to niche audiences, but they have broader reach through their online presence and national influence when their stories are picked up by legacy media or other outlets...."
• "Many of the organizations do not systematically measure their impact. Some monitor traffic, and one produces an 'impact report.'"
• By providing accurate, objective stories and adhering to strict standards, organisations believe that they are gaining credibility, "seeding the ground" for future efforts, and offering valuable work experience for the next generation of journalists in their countries.
• In order to build trust, six sites reveal their funding sources, four publish their ownership, five show audiences how their newsrooms work.
• "Ten of the organizations explain their story selection process to their readers and eight give them a voice in editorial or business decisions. Twelve said they have "used their readers’ knowledge or expertise when producing a story.'"
• "When asked to choose which statement they agreed with the most, six picked the following sentence: 'The key to a journalist’s credibility has always been telling the truth and that has not changed in the digital era.' Six agreed with the statement that 'In the digital era, the key to a journalist’s credibility has changed. You have to tell the truth but you also need to actively convince your readers and society-at-large that you are trustworthy. To achieve this, you need to develop new ways of relating to the public.'"