Recent surveys of readers have found fewer trust newspapers to report the news accurately and without bias. Getting feedback from readers about shy they feel that way, coming up with ways to address their concerns and then implementing them will help, a panel of experts said.
"A newspaper cannot be credible unless it is seen as fair in the minds of readers," said Robert H. Giles, senior vice president of The Freedom Forum, an international foundation dedicated to press freedom and free speech.
Christine Urban, president of the consulting firm of Urban & Associates, discussed results of a 1998 nationwide survey Journalism Credibility Project. It found a lack of connection between journalist and readers, with journalists generally saying the public doesn’t understand their work and readers saying journalists don’t share their values and don’t do enough to ensure accurate reporting.
Among the major findings: readers find too many factual and grammatical errors in stories; the public perceives sensational stories are over-covered to sell papers; and readers don’t believe newspapers understand their work and readers saying journalists don’t share their values and don’t do enough to ensure accurate reporting.
Judy Christie, chairwoman of ASNE’s Ethics and Values Committee, suggested individual newspapers identify an area of coverage that receives complaints, analyze why readers are upset and then try to involve readers in fixing the problem.
Phil Currie, vice president of news for Gannett Corp., noted his company has come up with rules for ethical conduct at its 73 papers. At the heart of them is a commitment to "seeking and reporting the truth in a truthful way," he said.
APME President Pam Johnson, executive editor of The Arizona Republic, said a failure to reflect the diversity of their communities hurts newspapers’ credibility. She applauded this year’s first National Time-Out for Diversity and Accuracy, in which staffs at nearly 200 newspapers and every Associated Press bureau discussed the value of diversity in news coverage.
"It’s that circle of discussion followed by action that is so key to making progress," she said. "and if we can keep that circle going, we can provide a more accurate portrayal of our communities and build newsrooms that provide a promising environment to attract and keep minorities."
A panel discussion moderated by AP President Louis D. Boccardi focused on coverage of the civil rights movement and how racial issues are reported today. The consensus was the media was key to the success of the civil rights movement but now devotes too little attention to racial problems.
Jack Nelson, the chief Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times who covered the civil rights movement, said in many ways "that was the news media’s fines hour."
"I think today we’re not doing a very good job," he said, citing failures to report extensively on issues such as housing bias and employment discrimination.
Frances Murphy, publisher of the Washington (D.C.) AFRO-American newspaper, said most daily papers do not adequately cover issues important to blacks.
"Community newspapers are growing and the reason is you’re not covering your communities," she said.
APME writing wards for the Associated Press staff were handed out at a luncheon:
- The AP Denver bureau won an award for excellence in deadline coverage for the Columbine High School shootings.
- Res Huppke of the Indianapolis bureau won the John L. Dougherty Award, which recognizes an outstanding reporter with less than three years’ service with the AP.
- AP national writer Todd Lewan won the feature writing and enterprise reporting categories. The feature award was for a serial account of the dramatic rescue of a fishing crew in the Gulf of Alaska. The enterprise reporting award was for an in-
- depth look at the tobacco industry’s creation of a more addictive tobacco.
- Best news photography awards went to nine photographers for a package of photos on Kosovo. They are Peter Dejong, Jerome Delay, Eric Draper, John Gaps III, David Guttenfielder, Santiago Lyon, Enric Marti and Dimitri Messinis.
- Brennan Linsley won the best feature photo award for a series of photos on famine in Sudan. ¨ (AP)
