Today's trust tip: Talk about your ownership
Hi there. Lynn here.
Whether it's the TV affiliation your station has or your corporate owner based on the other side of the country, talking about and being transparent about who owns your news organization can be an important part of earning the trust of your users.
For many reporters and possibly even editors, the impact of who owns the paper, website, or TV or radio station may not be felt on a daily basis. But do you tell your users that?
Through in-depth user interviews, Trusting News partners heard repeatedly that many consumers assume corporate owners and their financial interests dictate news coverage. One user said, "mainstream media, because of corporate status, have an agenda. They write the article to gain money, get advertising. It's all about the money."
(Users also are often holding you accountable for content you're not actually producing but are probably getting complaints about, such as wire or syndicated content. A previous edition of Trust Tips has more advice on how to handle that.)
So, while you may not be thinking about your ownership and association with a corporation, many of your users are.
We're learning that mistrust in news can begin because people make assumptions (mostly negative) about how we do our jobs and why we cover certain stories. But if we are transparent about how we operate, we can help prevent these negative assumptions and hopefully at the same time improve trust.
KCRG used the viral, controversial Sinclair Broadcasting video as a jumping off point to talk about their own ownership. In the post, they remind readers of their ethics policy, and state in no uncertain terms that coverage decisions are made locally. The news organization said readers appreciated the openness.

Once you've been transparent about who owns your organization, the next step is to talk about how that ownership might impact your news coverage. If it doesn't, please share that. If it does (maybe you publish certain editorials or a segment each week from the corporate team, or maybe you abide by an ethics code or a standards guide that comes from corporate) consider writing or talking about. You could do this in a stand-alone story. Or also consider adding editor's notes or language to each story when they air/publish or when there may be certain decisions that are not made locally.
TRY THIS:
- Write about who owns your news organization and make sure it is easy to find. Consider adding it to your about page.
- If you are in a position to draw attention to the independence of the decision making in your newsroom, do it. (And if you're locally owned, make sure your audience knows that, too.)
- Explain to your audience what being an affiliate or part of a chain means. Really spell it out. For example: If your station is an NBC affiliate, you don't have any control over what happens on the Today Show. Tell users that and direct them on who to contact if they have questions about the Today Show.
— Lynn Walsh, Trusting News assistant director
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