A WAKE-UP CALL: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism? The Wake-Up Call Conference • August 9, 2005 • San Antonio

This conference is the centerpiece of a one-year Restoring the Trust project developed in partnership with the Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communication at Kennesaw State University and the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada-Reno in consultation with the PJNet and the AEJMC’s Civic Journalism and Community Journalism interest groups. The Journalism and the Public: Restoring the Trust project is underwritten in part by the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

Final report Edited by Donica Mensing, Merlyn Oliver and Leonard Witt Design by Alex Newman Table of Contents

An Introduction: Do We Trust Our Audiences? Thirteen Percent of Americans Cole Campbell Prefer Ethnic to Mainstream Media Dean, Reynolds School of Journalism, Alice Tait University of Nevada, Reno 1 Central Michigan University 29

The Audience Can Save Quality Immigrants Have a Different Definition Journalism, If Asked to Help of What’s News Leonard Witt Alejandro Manrique Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Managing editor, Rumbo de San Antonio 31 Communications, Kennesaw State University 2 Is There A Need For Mainstream Media? The Wake-Up Call: Are the George White Mass News Media in a Death Spiral? Assistant director, UCLA Center Phil Meyer for Communications and Community 33 Knight Chair in Journalism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 5 Small Papers Have a Big Place on the News Media Spectrum Expanding The Definition of News Media Trust Daily Encounters with Readers Reinforce Trust A Jay Rosen-Led Conversation Peggy Kuhr Jay Rosen Knight Chair in Journalism, University of Kansas 35 ProfessorNew York University with Neil Chase, Charles Lewis and Dan Gillmor. 10 How Do We Get Youth to First Read or Watch and Then Trust the News? There is No Death Spiral, Just a Renewal Kendra Hurley Clyde Bentley Editor, Youth Media 39 Associate professor, School of Journalism, University of Missouri at Columbia 17 So How Is One Mainstream Media Paper Coping? The Answer is Niches MarketWatch: Starting a News Alternative Brett Thacker A Conversation with Jay Rosen and Neil Chase, Managing editor, San Antonio Express-News 41 Deputy editor, NYTimes.com 18 What the News Media Future Will Look Like Can Nonprofits Fill Mainstream Media’s A Jay Rosen-Led Conversation with: Investigative Reporting Gap? David Gyimah,Producer and journalist, An Open-Forum Conversation with Jay Rosen and University of Westminster, UK Charles Lewis, Founder, Center for Public Integrity. Bill Grueskin, Managing editor, Dan Gillmor, Author, “We the Media: Grassroots Wall Street Journal Online Journalism by the People, for the People” and the Chris Nolan, Stand-alone online journalist blog Bayosphere 21 Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist.com 45

Can You Have Trust if You Practice Censorship by Omission? Why People of Color Don’t Read the Mainstream Media Dori Maynard President, Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education 25 An Introduction: Do We Trust Our Audiences?

Cole Campbell • Dean, Reynolds School of Journalism• University of Nevada, Reno

don’t know how many of you saw the piece by Jack Shafer on Slate that he posted at the end of the week on Friday. He basically said: “I’m beginning to doubt the trust and credibility of Ithe mainstream reader.” It’s a fun piece to read, and I think he puts a finger on something, perhaps inadver- tently, we ought to be thinking about today, and that is our ambiguous relationship to the people we serve. We don’t know whether to blame them, serve them, ig- nore them, or how we ought to be treating the people who populate the communities we serve. We don’t know whether to think of them as clients, as custom- ers, or as citizens in the narrowly defined Black’s Law /AP stylebook version or in the more expansive ver- sion. . . I think that’s the probably the central question that underlies what we’ll be talking about: who these people are, what do we think about them, what room are we going to make for them in our work lives, are we going to treat them as our peers, as our superiors, or as our inferiors. I think, thematically, we’ll be ex- Cole Campbell. ploring many dimensions of that. Photo by Wendi Poole

1 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio The Audience Can Save Quality Journalism, If Asked to Help

Leonard Witt • Robert D. Fowler Distinguished Chair in Communications • Kennesaw State University

s I said earlier, we all sources. When they have ignorant know that trust in or incompetent reporters. When journalism is at an they prey on the weak and they ‘The public said all-time low, al- concentrate on bad news. When though this year the they lack diversity. When they al- newspapers were AState of the News Media 2005 said low editorial bias in news stories unfair and they get that the expectations from the and they can’t admit that some- media have stabilized. But then times there’s just no story. facts wrong and they they add that it may be that expec- Of course all these issues are tations from the press have sunk important and they actually are refuse to admit errors.’ enough that they will not sink any fundamental to trust and qual- further. People are not dismayed ity, but for newsrooms, or for us by disappointments in the press; to deal just solely with this (and they expect them. that was my original intent when A few years ago when the I was thinking of this conference) Today ethnic communities, Freedom Forum put out its Best would be like trying to fine-tune though, are getting their own Practices book for newspaper the fiddle while Rome was burn- place in the media world. They journalists, it addressed trust ing. Newsrooms are besieged by are now part of the competition issues by posing a series of state- corporate ownership woes, there’s for the mass media. On almost all ments it had learned from talk- rampant criticism from the left fronts, news circulation and view- ing to the public. The public said and the right, and when it comes ership are declining; few youth get newspapers were unfair when to coverage of the minority com- their news from traditional news they get the facts wrong and they munities, Mercedes Lynn de Uri- sources; entrepreneurs are giving refuse to admit errors. When they arte said, “The mass news media away free newspapers; new cable don’t name names in anonymous practice censorship by omission.” channels spread audiences thin-

2 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ner and thinner; and classified ads are being eroded by the likes ‘Why don’t of Craigslist, whose founder, Craig Newmark, is with us. . . journalists accept Phil Meyer, author of “The Van- ishing Newspaper” and who gave what’s happening? I’d me the idea for the Wake-Up Call, even talks of a death spiral. And say part of the reason more than a year ago, Jay Rosen, is attitude.’ another of our speakers, told an audience at the World Economic Conference in Davos, Switzerland, that the age of the mass media is just that, an age, and that it front of one billion people, or doesn’t have to last forever. This one-sixth of the world’s popula- year, in preparing notes for an- tion. That remarkable achieve- ment wasn’t in anyone’s ten-year Leonard Witt. other speech, Rosen wrote, “Each Photo by Wendi Poole nation will shortly have a chance plan. Today, at any Net terminal, you can get an amazing variety to re-establish, or overhaul, its Then he adds, “What we failed of music and video, an evolving own press or to create a new one. to see was how much of this new encyclopedia, weather forecasts, And that’s a moment for careful world would be manufactured by help-wanted ads, satellite images thought.” And in the same vein, users, not corporate interests. This of anyplace on earth, up-to-the- the State of the Media report for bottom-up takeover was not in minute news from around the 2005, after listing its litany of news anyone’s ten-year plan.” globe, tax forms, tax guides, road media woes, writes, “Somehow And of course he mentions we- maps, stock quotes, telephone journalism needs to prove that it’s blogs. “No web phenomena,” he numbers, etc, etc.” acting on behalf of the public, if it says, “is more confounding than And what about the trust in all is to save itself.” blogging. Everything media ex- of these things? About eBay, he I would argue, though, that there perts knew about audiences—and writes, “We have an open global really is help. And it’s everywhere, they knew a lot—confirmed the flea market that handles 1.4 billion if journalists are willing to accept focus group belief that audiences auctions each year and oper- it. It’s in the form of audiences would never get off their butts and ates from your bedroom. Users themselves. It’s presenting itself start making their own entertain- do most of the work; they pho- in the form of weblogs, videologs, ment. Everyone knew writing and tograph, catalog, post and man- podcasts, none of which are going reading were dead. Music was too age their own auctions. And they away. In his excellent article in much trouble to make when you police themselves. While eBay and this month’s (August, 2005) Wired, could sit back and listen. Video other auction sites do call in the Kevin Kelly, in a retrospective of production was simply out of the authorities to arrest serial abusers, the last ten years, writes, “In fewer reach of amateurs. Blogs and other the chief method of insuring fair- than four thousand days, we have participant media would never ness is a system of user-generated encoded a trillion versions of our happen, or, if they would happen, ratings. Three billion feedback collective story and put them in it would not draw an audience. comments can work wonders.”

3 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Leonard Witt speaks Tuesday, Aug. 9 at A Wake-Up Call Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Photo by Wendi Poole

Or if they drew an audience, that lobotomy. Fortunately some journalists and audience would not matter. What Why don’t journalists accept some citizens do get it. Some of a shock, then, to witness the what’s happening? I’d say part of them are in the room here today. instantaneous rise of 50 million the reason is attitude. Newsrooms, You’ll hear from them. What better blogs, with a new one appearing a Readership Institute study tells way to establish trust and quality every two seconds.” us, operate largely in an aggressive, than to make the public a part of Why, I ask, would we as jour- defensive mode. Not a great for- what we do? Or better yet, make nalists, as journalism professors mula for welcoming change. They ourselves, as part of the media, be and members of the news media are grounded in tradition, and big part of what the public is doing in general, turn our back on this institutions simply don’t change and be part of that bigger brain. public power? This bigger brain easily. Years of public journalism, Why not become an indispensable that Kelly persuasively argues which many of the people in this link built on trust and quality? And will, by the year 2015—ten years room have been thinking about then perhaps, by heeding the State from now—help us do so much of and talking about, have told us that of the News Media 2005’s advice, our thinking that, if we are cut off most journalists don’t relate very journalism will, by acting on be- from it, will be almost like having a well to the public. half of the public, save itself.

4 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio The Wake-Up Call: Are the Mass News Media in a Death Spiral?

Phil Meyer • Knight Chair in Journalism • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Author of “The Vanishing Newspaper: Saving Journalism in the Information Age”

re Newspapers in a book is that credibility does make thing even better. And since that Death Spiral? a difference, and this is about as costs money and since the indus- The answer is yes, close a relationship as I can get. In try is still in cost-cutting mode to and there’s probably these 21 [newspaper] markets you maintain its historic profitability, nothing we can do can see that credibility increases that’s not likely to happen. Aabout it. This is a picture of the the ability to hang on to their The End of Newspaper death spiral—it’s not a spiral, it’s circulation in their home counties Monopolies more of a straight line. I showed over a five-year period... That’s the There has also begun a revision- an earlier version of this chart in good news. ist school of thought. A reporter this same hotel about ten years The bad news is that not even for the Washington Post wrote a ago, to a meeting of newspaper the best newspapers in terms of piece for American Journalism feature writers, and one of them credibility were able to hang on to Review attacking my thesis. And looked at that and pointed to the all of their home county circula- when I read his article, I got that chart and said, “No, that is not tion and penetration in that time. same sinking feeling I get when happening.” Denial is a pretty So, credibility makes a difference I read a book report by a student good way to deal with something but it’s not going to turn things and realize that he or she hasn’t like this. As Garrison Keillor once around unless we somehow get read the book. His main argu- said, “Some problems are so bad, beyond the quality ranges that are ments were (1) newspapers were the only thing to do is to look at historic for the newspaper busi- okay because they still make lots them and deny them.” ness. We’ve got to break out of the of money. Yes, that’s the prob- Well, the main argument of my established ranges and do some- lem—they make too much money.

5 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘I spent three years in a windowless room in Miami trying to do readership surveys for Knight Ridder that would lure readers back, until I realized that readership habits are set by the time a person is old enough to be interviewed in a readership survey.’

provide a better service at a lower new institutions if we’re going to Phil Meyer. Photo by Wendi Poole profit margin. Since Craig isn’t save journalism. Forget about sav- interested in any profit margin at ing newspapers. They will survive They’re so busy making money all, he’s about as bad a competitor in some truncated, less-frequent that they’re destroying their prod- as you can get. And this is going to form. But we’re going to need ucts. continue. some new institutions to cope And his other argument was that Youth Audience Is Lost with the things that are replacing newspapers still have a monopoly. A lot of people still have a pic- newspapers. No, they don’t have a monopoly. ture in the book of people drifting The Decline of the Mass Media As sure as Craig Newmark is sit- away from newspapers. That’s not If I can just give you a bit of ting in this room, they don’t have it at all. It’s just that newspaper historical perspective on this: The a monopoly on classified advertis- readers are dying off, and each demassification of the media did ing, and there’s lots of other stuff new generation that comes along not start with the Internet. It didn’t they no longer have a monopoly has a lower reading habit than start with blogging. It started on. They have a monopoly on be- the one before. I spent three years pretty much after World War II, ing newspapers. But that’s not the in a windowless room in Miami and John Merrill and Ralph Low- point. The point is that the servic- trying to do readership surveys enstein noticed this in a book they es they provide are being provided for Knight Ridder that would lure published in 1970. Everywhere cheaper and more efficiently...by readers back, until I realized that you looked, the more specialized somebody else. I first met Craig readership habits are set by the media were doing better than the at this meeting and I shook his time a person is old enough to be more generalized media. And so- hand and I said, “Craig, you are interviewed in a readership sur- ciologist Richard Maisel did a nice what the Harvard Business School vey. And so the problem of luring piece about five or six years later calls a bad competitor.” A bad people back is not the problem at documenting this in all kinds of competitor is somebody who will all. ... We’re going to need some media, even theater. The smaller

6 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio the audience, the better it was doing. course, they are needed to medi- Bloggers, Competence and The Internet is bringing us the ate between all of the different Values ultimate extreme in individual interests in the body politic and Now, I love watching the blog- messages. And we’re going to the government. The govern- gers. I am not a blogger myself, need new institutions to cope ment is so big and complicated, nor do I intend to become one. with that. And democracy can and citizens’ needs are so di- But I think what they’re doing is do that because some of our best verse, we can’t keep track of very important. And that a natu- institutions simply arose out them. But political parties bring ral organization is going to arise of a need. Political parties, for interests together so that the to harness all of this activity. Two example. The Founding Fathers voter, individually, at least knows things that need to be harnessed did not make any provision for whether he’s going to support are some controlled management political parties in the Constitu- the ins or the outs in any given of moral values and subject mat- tion—in fact, they didn’t like the election. ter competence. And I’m going idea of political parties. They And that’s a very important and to give you a silly little personal hoped they would go away. Of absolutely necessary service. example of a moral value of blog-

Participants listen to a speaker at A Wake-Up Call Conference held Aug. 9 in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole

7 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘There needs to be some kind of organizational activity to help identify people who have competence in a subject matter.

Phil Meyer at A Wake-Up Call Conference held Aug. 9 in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole ging that’s been bugging me for is to be accused of inflating his him Hans Jurgensmeier. And so, some time. It’s this: Every time a credentials. I never set foot in a given what happened with John blogger makes a mistake, he or she Ph.D. program. I am not any kind Robinson’s blog, I’ve thought very preserves it in the record forever, of a doctor. And anytime some- carefully how to direct Tim on as though it were something body calls me a doctor, I have to this. I sent him a note, and I was precious. It reminds me of those stop the conversation and correct afraid he was going to put in a people who have fender-benders them. . . So I sent him a nice note correction that would sound like on the highway, and they won’t and asked him to please fix it. This it was my fault that he called Hal move them from the road . . . why is what he did: I’m still there as Dr. Jurgensmeier Hans, so I was kind can’t we get bloggers to move Meyer. Twice. And at the end, he of direct. I said, “Good introduc- their mistakes, because they inter- says “Updated correction: Meyer is tion to the concept, Tim, but out rupt the flow of information. not a doctor.” It sounds like I was of respect of its originator, I’d I’m going to show you a mis- inflating my credentials and he like to correct your fumble on his take that drove me nuts. Here’s a caught me at it! name—it’s Hal, not Hans.” He put quote from John Robinson’s very Here’s another one. This one is that at the very end, so you still good blog at the Greenville Daily from Tim Porter’s blog. I love Tim have to read through his whole News—he’s the editor and I greatly Porter’s blog because he reviewed review of the first chapter—it’s still approve of what he’s doing. But my book, chapter by chapter, Hans at the top—and at the very here’s what he said about me in and got a lot of people interested end it says, oh by the way, it wasn’t his blog: He called me Dr. Meyer in it. But in the very first review, Hans Jurgensmeier, it was Hal. twice. This is a terrible thing, he calls Hal Jurgensmeier, who’s Why? Why do that? I don’t know, because one of the worst things the guy who invented the Influ- but it seems to me that bloggers, if that can happen to an academic ence Model concept, and called they really want to preserve their

8 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio mistakes, if they’re that precious matter competence. There needs cal ownership of the means of pro- to them, they could at least have a to be some kind of organizational duction. I think Russell Neuman’s footnote at the bottom saying that activity to help identify people idea is right on, and that might be in an earlier version of this report, who have competence in a subject the wave of the future. I called Phil Meyer a doctor; he’s matter. This is from Nelson Antrim So what would we call what- really not, and it was my fault, and Crawford’s book on ethics. He had ever organization that would do I’m sorry. Wouldn’t that do the a cynical but very realistic view of this? Well, my working title is The same thing? But I would be just as that. He said: “Real knowledge of League of Extraordinary Journal- happy if they would just fix it and modern economics is less likely ists. . . and after I’d prepared these then not tell anybody about it. to gain promotion for a reporter remarks, I was following the case When I was a newspaper report- on the average paper than the of Jim DeFede at the Miami Herald er, and I was helping Knight Rid- ability to write an interesting but and looking at the list of 500 jour- der invent a very early pre-Inter- largely untruthful story about a nalists who said that the Herald net electronic information system, street fight over a custard pie.” ought to change its decision to I fantasized about all the times I And I think that, as the old media fire him. Why couldn’t there be made a mistake in the newspaper, monopoly disappear—and they an organization that would look and I’d think, wouldn’t it be great have to disappear because the into cases like that, and if they if I had a rubber band attached to physical basis for their existing found that a journalist had been all those newspapers in the street no longer exists—it’s possible to treated unfairly or unwisely, could and in all the homes in my com- create another kind of monopoly, do what the American Associa- munity, and I could yank them which is the position in the user’s tion of University Professors does, back and fix them one by one, I head of being a trusted source of which is to censure the institution felt so bad about the error. And information. People with things and say that we don’t recommend the main advantage of electronic to sell know to go to Craigslist, that young journalists go to work information systems, I thought, and it may be that reporters who for that body. Why couldn’t we do was that you could do that. But it’s are good and competent in specific something like that? And the same not being done. subject matter areas can get reputa- sort of thing could be done in Need for a competency accredi- tions that will create, for a website, establishing who has the technical tation society the kind of monopoly that used to competence to write about eco- Well, the other area is subject be available only through the physi- nomics or other topics.

9 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Expanding The Definition of News Media Trust A Jay Rosen-Led Conversation with Charles Lewis, Neil Chase and Dan Gillmore

Jay Rosen • New York University • Author of the blog PressThink ‘I imagine back in the prehistoric ages, a journalist was the only one willing to go into the dark cave and come back out and tell everyone what it looks like back in there.’ —Charles Lewis ‘Nobody trusts anything blindly. Do you trust your doctor anymore? Do you trust anybody anymore? People want more explanation, how it works. Heck, let’s give it to them.’ — Neil Chase

ay Rosen: Most discussions and Dan Rather and other high- it, but they’re trying to reconnect of trust and the press pro- profile screw-ups, which must with their communities, and that’s ceed from the same story, have done something to trust. And the story. I’ve heard it hundreds of J and what I want to do is lay then we cite the fragmenting of times. the marketplace and the way that That captures a certain por- out this story, which is sort that is breaking apart the media tion of the situation, and it’s not of a standard narrative, and then empires of old, and that’s fractur- wrong, it’s not incorrect. It’s just see if we can generate alternatives ing trust. We talk about the loss limited. What I would like to do is to it. of energy and initiative to blog- put that to one side and open up In the standard story that we gers, who are kind of nipping at this question: What do you know hear, we find trust in the media the heels of the mass media. And about trust in journalism that declining and we look at poll we mention how criticism from took you a while to learn and that numbers that show that, and we the left and the right keeps ris- maybe other people don’t know? briefly ask, well, why would this be ing, and that’s doing something What do you know about trust in and we go down our list of factors to trust. And therefore, people in journalism that took you some and one of the factors is the recent journalism are worried and they time to learn and is maybe a result spate of scandals like Jayson Blair don’t really know what to do about of the privilege of your experience,

10 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio which other people haven’t had? those were things that the main- Charles Lewis, Center for Public stream media did not cover. You Integrity, (A nonprofit doing inves- could go to the Center site and see tigative reporting) the actual contracts. Going Around the Mainstream And that’s an important advan- Media Gatekeepers To Get the tage of the web. You can actually Untold Story link to documents. With com- Charles Lewis: I think that a lot puter-assisted reporting you can of things that should be covered go through millions of records, for ordinary citizens are not being you can do searchable databases covered, haven’t been covered for of who owns the media within ten decades, and the way to either or twenty miles of your house by build trust...is to present infor- entering your zip code—there are mation about subjects that affect just spectacular things you can do people’s daily lives in an unvar- that you couldn’t do five, seven, 10 nished, no-holds-barred way that years ago... names names and lays out infor- Getting back to the question. . . mation that is relevant to their I imagine back in the prehistoric daily lives to the best you can, and ages, a journalist was the only one document it to the extent that you willing to go into the dark cave can, and that’s what we’ve tried to and come back out and tell ev- do in 300 reports and 14 books at eryone what it looks like back in the Center. there. You’ve got the inside skinny The Center wasn’t started as that is maybe interesting to the any kind of highfalutin’ alterna- rest of the village, however big you tive. I couldn’t get certain things define that village. And to me, it’s on the air at 60 Minutes, and it not a whole lot more complicated. was getting on my nerves. And I I’m not trying to say it has all the wanted to work somewhere where answers, but that’s been my M.O. I could do it. The old A. J. Leibling and I’m going to keep doing it at comment that the only free press the Center. may be the one you own is a great Jay Rosen: Okay. Let me under- quote, and with a non-profit, you line two things. One is, you said don’t own it but it’s still fun, and you wanted your own printing so, Lincoln bedroom scandal with press—that’s why you started the Clinton, posting that Enron was Center. Fifteen years later, blog- Bush’s top contributor, posting gers come along. It’s a lot easier the Patriot II Act when the admin- for them to have their own print- From top: Panelists Jay Rosen, Charles istration said it didn’t exist for six ing press, but it was the same Lewis, Neil Chase, and Dan Gillmor at months, all the Iraq contracts, first motivation, right? And second, A Wake-Up Call conference. Photos by Wendi Poole disclosing Halliburton was the top when you say trust follows from contractor in Iraq for the world— getting the inside story, it reminds

11 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio me of a very important incident that erupted in Oregon when the ‘All of us know, from our time inside Oregonian didn’t uncover a sexual harassment by their own senator, newsrooms that most of the screw-ups are not because they hadn’t been doing exactly what you’re saying. They an intentional plot by a group of scheming were shocked at how angry people editors who sit around the table and were. Not because they screwed up a story. But because they never make up a plan to screw something up. did it. In fact, they knew some- thing about it. It wasn’t such a They are often simple mistakes.’ secret. That’s a very direct result of exactly what you’re saying. — Neil Chase Neil Chase, Deputy editor, NY- Times.com How the Mainstream Media Stopped Telling the Truth (or How in 1988. ing on. Journalists Stopped Doing their By the mid-90s, when Lowell What have I learned about trust Jobs) Bergman tried to do a tobacco from my years inside newsrooms Neil Chase: Charles, you said story, they were threatened with and academia? All of us know, you started the Center because annihilation, with a multi-bil- from our time inside newsrooms there were stories you couldn’t lion dollar lawsuit, Black Rock, that most of the screw-ups are not cover at 60 Minutes that you the corporate part of CBS, tells an intentional plot by a group of wanted to cover. Why couldn’t you Don Hewitt and the show not to scheming editors who sit around cover them? proceed, and this time, they don’t the table and make up a plan to Charles Lewis: The suits would stand up. And so—for that story, screw something up. They are say they didn’t need to be covered. I could give you ten more. And often just stupid mistakes. Some- Just go rent the Insider movie— they’ve never been published. But body didn’t raise a red flag. Some- that sums it up. Although I actual- it’s understood. body didn’t say, hey, wait a minute, ly did do a story on tobacco, I was Sometimes Trust Is Lost that doesn’t make sense. Or, have a producer for Mike Wallace. Larry Because Of Stupid Mistakes we asked this question? Or you Tisch, the owner of CBS, asked Jay Rosen: So there’s the first hear something at a dinner and Mike Wallace over dinner not to addition to our standard narra- you say, gee, that’s a story, and I’m broadcast it. To Mike’s credit, he tive—the press lost trust because the local newspaper, I should do said, go to hell, Larry, we’re doing it stopped telling the truth in a lot that. A lot of it just comes back to it. Mike Wallace had the stature of ways. It just stopped. doing our jobs. then to say that to the owner of Neil Chase: Or maybe in some And this whole discussion of one of the largest tobacco compa- cases we stopped doing our jobs. trust—when we ask readers, do nies in the world, who also hap- You mentioned the Oregonian you trust the local newspaper, pened to own CBS. And we said on thing. People just said, I want my what exactly do you mean? Would the air that Lawrence Tisch de- newspaper to tell me this if it’s go- you trust me if I told you there was clined to comment. That occurred

12 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio going to be construction on your street next week that was going to disrupt your rush hour commute? Would you trust me if I told you that a member of the city council was doing something horrible with your money? Would you trust me if I told you I had some docu- ment and I couldn’t tell you where I got it from? Would you take that on faith? Would you believe a Judy Miller and just say, well, it’s the New York Times, sure, why not? Would people have felt differently about our court case ten, twenty years ago? Well, maybe. “Welcome to the fish bowl that is the New York Times.” I’ve only been at the Times three months, but one of the biggest changes that’s happened at the Times in the past few years, not just because of the one, perhaps best-known change, or problem there, with stories being made up, but with all the things that have happened in all the media, is this intense effort to make things much more transparent. To say, wait a minute, what if we just show people what we’re doing? Because there shouldn’t be a lot of secrets. I mean, when I got to the New York Times, the notice about my getting hired, the number two guy at the web site, starts going around to several different web sites, and I start getting messages The audience listens, laptops open, during A Wake-Up Call conference on Aug. from people. I mentioned this to 9 in San Antonio, Texas. my new boss, and he said, “Wel- Photo by Wendi Poole come to the fish bowl that is the

13 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio New York Times.” Everything we New York Times. You look at it, what do you know about trust that do here is public. Every memo examine it, decide whether you maybe other people don’t know? from the editor about a change, trust it. But we’re not going to tell Dan Gillmor, Author, “We the including the fun ones we’re about you much about how it’s made be- Media: Grassroots Journalism by to make with My Newsroom end cause, actually, that’s not relevant. the People, for the People” and the up on the Poynter website and What’s relevant is the product. We blog Bayosphere all sorts of other places because put it out there for you to judge. Dan Gillmor: The transpar- people watch what we’re doing. That was a way of achieving trust. ency question ... is the change. It’s And that’s great. There shouldn’t It just isn’t the world anymore. knowing that trust goes two ways, be a lot of secrets, I’ve learned in It’s not the way the world works actually. If we trust the readers, my years in journalism. We’ve got anymore. the audience to help us, I think our whole ethics handbook now And so now we have a new sys- that we’ll find that they will. And up on the Web—you can down- tem, which is, here’s the product— that’s something that I think took load the whole PDF and read it. It the New York Times—and you can me a long time to get. just seems like the huge effort to trust it or not, but look, we’ll tell How Working Outside the Sys- open the process up and say, wait, you how we made it. And, increas- tem Generates Coverage by the it’s always been a secretive thing, ingly, they have to do exactly that. System people trusted blindly. It’s Not Just Us—Lack of Trust is Jay Rosen: Okay. I want to ask Nobody trusts anything blindly. Endemic in Today’s Society now about some of your transi- Do you trust your doctor any- Neil Chase: And it’s just as im- tions in life because I think, when more? Do you trust anybody any- portant to keep in mind, this is not you change systems in journal- more? People want more explana- about just journalism. Literally, it’s ism, you learn a lot about jour- tion, how it works. Heck, let’s give about medicine. It’s about your car nalism. When you go out of a big it to them. mechanic, it’s about everything operation and into a small one, Jay Rosen: Before transparency you do in your daily life. People you learn something about what at the New York Times—which I expect more information. They a big operation is. If you go from think you’re absolutely right, it’s a have access to more information, national journalism to local, you very different world now—there so they’re going to use it. learn something about the distor- was a trust system. But the think- Trusting Your Audience Will tions of Washington. ing was, we put this product out Help Them Trust You So Charles, when you left pro- every day, the daily edition of the Jay Rosen: Dan, I want to know, fessional journalism to found the

‘Nobody trusts anything blindly. Do you trust your doctor anymore? Do you trust anybody anymore? People want more explanation, how it works. Heck, let’s give it to them.’ — Neil Chase

14 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Jay Rosen, far right, leads a conversation with Charles Lewis, left, Neil Chase, center, and Dan Gillmor in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole

Center, you had been an investi- dia, not just the networks, had a Center because all the investiga- gative reporter for ABC and CBS, little problem with arrogance, the tive reporting names were already right? And so you worked inside smugness factor. You do notice it taken. Then you’re on the outside. two of the biggest operations, more when you’re on the outside. And, being on the inside, I had and also two of the most storied My way of thinking, all the major had all these groups with inter- in the profession. And then you stories of the late 80s, early 90s esting information, hundreds of were suddenly on the outside of had been missed. The S&L story them, thousands maybe, coming that system, doing what you say was mostly covered locally; the in, trying to get their stories on 60 is the same work, but from a very Iran Contra scandal, most journal- Minutes. And I had a sense of what different social situation, from ists in Washington heard about works and what doesn’t in the having to raise money in offices it from the attorney general, Ed mainstream media, and I knew that probably started very small. Meese, which is not a good sign. that I had a different model than So, when you shifted from your Making the Transition Away many of the other so-called inde- position within CBS, a giant, rich from Mainstream Media pendent or alternative—there’s all corporation, and ABC long past, to Charles Lewis: I broke a four- kinds of adjectives for them—type this new operation, what did you year contract. I walked out with of media. I had no interest in learn about doing journalism? Or a mortgage, a family, no savings, being on the margins. I wanted what did you learn about those and I wouldn’t recommend it nec- the world to know everything I organizations that wouldn’t have essarily but, I mean, I didn’t know did. Instantly, of course. And so been available to you if you hadn’t the next step. I just needed to get the model I chose was—this was gotten off the boat? out of there. pre-Internet—to do reports that Charles Lewis: Well, I already I started the Center from my were anal-retentively researched knew that the mainstream me- house. I took the name of the based on documents, you know,

15 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio that would take a year and use ten we also go around the media. It’s new, something that, in a decade or more researchers. And I would not a bad situation because you or so, would begin to have a pretty then announce the findings and can get it out both ways. That con- good sense of what shape it was that would be a news event. tinues to be the Center’s model. taking, maybe sooner. And that The first news conference was in Jay Rosen: Dan, you quit, too, I had a chance to be one of the December of ’90, and there were without really knowing what your people who helped—I wouldn’t 35 reporters at the Press Club. future prospects were going to be. say guide it, but help clear away ABC’s 20/20 did a segment about Not a dissimilar story from what some of the brush so that people it, C-Span, CNN and others, the Charles just told us. You went could do this. wire services and the major dai- from being columnist and online Citizen Journalism and Big Me- lies all covered it. And the model blogger for the San Jose Mercury dia Can Co-exist worked. This was something they News with, I think it’s fair to say, Dan Gillmor: And the jury is way had never covered, ever—the a position of some influence in out on any number of things, revolving door of White House Silicon Valley, to a start-up in including what business models trade officials where we found half citizens’ media with no track will exist for citizens media, how of them, over a 25-year period, record and no base of operations we can encourage people to do went to work for the people they at all. And you’ve been at it, what, things that are more signal than were negotiating against, namely six months now? Since leaving noise, and fundamentally, how foreign governments and foreign that environment, what have you I hope we can add this system corporations—but we actually had learned in that time about creat- and stop all this nonsense about the numbers and the names. And ing conditions of trust and, to go replacing big media—when it we’d interviewed all of them, 75 back to Charles’ story, what was it does its job well, it does it bril- people. that pushed you out the door? liantly and we should want to That showed that you could do Dan Gillmor: I wasn’t pushed. keep it. investigative reporting, it could I jumped, and there was no one’s Jay Rosen: Charles’ solution to get out there, it could filter into hand on my back except my own. that was not to replace the big the public consciousness, and it I’ve likened it to jumping off a cliff media with his thing, but produce would be covered. And the Center expecting to assemble a hang- what they weren’t producing and would essentially be a whole- glider before I reached the bot- then pitch it back to them as a sale provider, which it still is. But tom. And so I go through alternate story. That’s not replacing at all. now with the Internet and with moments of terror, exhilaration, And in that sense, one of the op- books—last year, “The Buying of which I’m told by my friends in portunities for citizen journal- the President 2004” was a best- Silicon Valley is completely nor- ists is to do exactly that—to be- seller for three months—so we mal. It certainly wasn’t normal for come, in effect, sources. That’s also can go to bookstores now. me. But it just felt like we were on a different relationship than a So we go through the media, but the verge in media of something dependence relationship.

‘...one of the opportunities for citizen journalists is to do exactly that — to become, in effect, sources.’ — Jay Rosen

16 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio There is No Death Spiral, Just a Renewal

Clyde Bentley • Associate professor, School of Journalism • University of Missouri at Columbia

I guess I call myself a guerrilla as something new and beautiful, journalism sites? No way. Bul- journalist. I have been that way all and it saves the day. . . . and that’s letin boards? They’re out there my life. I love this idea of finding one of the things I want to look at all over the place. Posters are all out where the holes are in the me- today. over the place in my town. . . .So dia system, jumping in there and We’ve got two issues here. The is the mass media dying? No. Are competing with them. I’ve done a perceived failure or problems in things that look like USA Today lot of work in community journal- the media system, and the actual and reporting poorly on the news ism, rural journalism, suburban problems in the media system. dying? Yes. journalism, done some urban The perceived problem is, hey, Instead of looking at the phoenix journalism, competed with Time nobody’s reading newspapers, rebuilding itself into something when I was an intern at News- newspapers are going out of newer and prettier, we’re looking week, that type of thing. I like the business, we have so many fewer at trying to save the death spiral or idea of competing. Maybe that newspapers than there ever were, something that probably needs to flavors my view of this, because blah, blah, blah. ...there’s 8,650 burn up. . . the idea of a death spiral, I can’t newspapers. Of those, 1,456 are buy it at all. dailies, 7,164 are non-dailies. We Clyde Bentley, My whole experience says this get a new one every day or so. The an associate isn’t a death spiral. This is the non-daily newspaper business is professor at dance of the phoenix. Things burn booming so fast nobody can keep the University of Missouri at up, and they come back new. The track of it. Columbia, bad part of that is, it’s not a very You look out on other ways says there is no pleasant thing to see, burning up. of the mass media, and you see death spiral in And it’s gotta hurt like hell when it blogs. Has anyone got a good journalism. Photo by Wendi happens, right? But it comes back count on blogs? No way. Citizen Poole

17 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio MarketWatch: Starting a News Alternative A Conversation with Jay Rosen and Neil Chase

Jay Rosen • New York University • Author of the blog PressThink Neil Chase • Deputy Editor • NYTimes.com

ay Rosen: Neil, you started thing. And you were managing ed- dium, like any news organization, online MarketWatch, which itor there, right? And now you’ve at some point there was a Day was a company and a site switched over to The New York One when the news organization Jinvented for the Internet age. Times, which is, in many ways, started. There are news organiza- the opposite, as a core institution. tions out there—take the Washing- And it was pitched, as far as It comes out of a totally different ton Post—which was once a very I understand its logic, at a very world. Its authority has been ac- far-less-than-great news organiza- old need and a very new need. cumulating since the 19th century, tion; it was the sixth most popular The old need was people always and it had to be brought into the newspaper in a five-newspaper need reliable business informa- online world, as opposed to start- town. A family took it over and led tion who are involved in business ing there like MarketWatch did. it and made it into a quality jour- and trade and investing, and there . . . What have you learned, what nalism organization. is always a demand for it because is your mind suddenly preoc- We started CBS MarketWatch—I good information is always itself cupied with today that maybe wasn’t there on the first day, so I an economic good in that envi- it wasn’t then? What is different can’t take credit for this—out of ronment and a business write-off. about your puzzle, as you go to nothing and with the idea that— Then there was this popular side work every day? here’s this word again—the finan- as well, people in the stock market Showing How It’s Done Instead cial markets lacked transparency. who wanted good information. of Saying, “Just trust us” Wall Street was this secretive club So MarketWatch succeeded Neil Chase: You, Jay, and some of of old white men who did noth- spectacularly, with the CBS name the others have written about the ing but trade your money around. attached to it. It really was a new idea that bloggers, like any me- You could invest, you could give

18 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio credibility. . . Big headline at the top designed and organizes things in a way that tells a story. You can look at this and figure out which story editors think is most impor- tant. And they built this up over a pe- riod of years. And then one night, maybe two years ago, my boss takes me and the other managing editor out to the bar one night af- ter work, which we’d been known to do once or twice, and says, well, I got a little bit of news for you. The chief columnist, the founder of this site, is going to be busted Jay Rosen speaks during the conference on Tuesday, Aug. 9 in San Antonio. by the SEC tomorrow. And the way Photo by Wendi Poole the SEC makes a bust is, it an- nounces an investigation into this your money to a broker, and a want to make it free, we want to person’s conduct in relationship broker would take that money and get it out there as fast as we can, to these newsletters he was writ- do something with it and charge and that coincided with the rise ing, whether he owned the stocks you a fortune for it. You didn’t of online trading. It turned into a or was hyping the stocks or was know what was going on, you had very successful business. doing something other than fairly no control. That’s the way it was But it was all based on Mar- reporting the news. And this was always run, and people blindly ketWatch’s having information the kind of scandal that, every- trusted that for decades. For people wanted. Doing reporting, body cringes, everybody thinks, decades they blindly trusted this doing journalism, they brought in oh my God, it’s all over. old New York institution. Sound top-notch professional journal- But the site had developed a familiar? ists, for the most part, to run it. strong reputation of delivering Along comes a time when peo- They built up a very credible news quality news to people. A lot of ple want more information, a time organization, one where the secret business stories are based on when people want more control, sauce there is that it looks like a press releases. They’re not all a time when people have more newspaper front page. deep investigative journalism, control in other parts of their lives, It made this thing look like a but they’re things people want and, at the same time, a technol- newspaper to engender the trust to know. And MarketWatch got ogy that lets them have more you would have—they milked the through that, like the Washing- control. And the first reporters at 150, 200 years all of us have spent ton Post got through its scandal MarketWatch were sitting there building up all these great news- twenty, thirty years ago now with saying we can get this informa- paper reputations, MarketWatch “Jimmy’s World” and the New York tion, we can get it out to people, walks in and makes it look like Times got through its, and every we don’t want to charge for it, we a newspaper and instantly adds other news organization, many

19 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio original documents on the Web, like you were saying, and being able to tell people, here’s where we got the thing, it’s audio and video where appropriate, it’s telling the story the best way we can on the web and, at the same time, explaining what we’re do- ing. So it’s a tremendously open environment, a place where, whatever demons were there ten years ago, about how we can’t ever change things, are gone. There’s a strong consen- sus among this group with very Bill Isreal, left, University of Massachusetts talks with Neil Chase, right, a diverse experiences to want to deputy editor at NYTimes.com, after a panel discussion during the conference move forward. It’s a very user Aug. 9 in San Antonio, Texas. experience thing. The people who Photo by Wendi Poole call in first with a breaking news story, to get it to the web site, are other news organizations have doing. I expected resistance, I the ones in Iraq, where they don’t had to. expected people to look at me see the newspaper, and they sure At MarketWatch it was, geez, funny, I expected—I wasn’t sure as heck don’t want the AP report- this thing actually works. We built what I was walking into. But in er sitting next to them to see an this thing up. People trust us. We every single interview I had for the AP story on the front page of the worked hard to get that. I went to job, every single meeting with a New York Times when the Times the New York Times and I thought, department head, all I get is, “Help reporter has it too. this is going to be a challenge— us. Tell us, how do we do more.” Jay Rosen: Leonard Apcar, who yeah, the Times has been on the And then the editor announces, a is your boss, the editorial direc- web long before MarketWatch, couple of months after I get there, tor of the Times site, told me they’ve been doing this for ten we’re going to move the whole once that the Times is conserva- years. web newsroom back into the print tive about journalism. It’s slow to But there are a number of newsroom, back where it belongs. do certain things. It always has people at the Times who have This is a bunch of people who been. In a funny way, that makes somewhat more years of experi- think this is the right thing to it more radical when it does act. ence than I do, as was pointed out do, and they want to do this. It And I think that’s very true about to me when I first got there. A lot was a wonderful thing to see. that particular newspaper. . . of people who love what they’re And it goes along with posting

20 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Can Nonprofits Fill Mainstream Media’s Investigative Reporting Gap? An Open-Forum Conversation with Jay Rosen, Charles Lewis and Dan Gillmor

Jay Rosen • New York University • Author of the blog PressThink Charles Lewis • Founder • Center for Public Integrity Dan Gillmor • Author •“We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People” and the blog Bayosphere

uestion from the audi- tive reporting. I think the great international consortium of jour- ence: What do you pre- moments in American journalism nalists.. . . I don’t see those enti- dict for the future if the ended in the 70s. If you study over ties you just mentioned right now Q financial rug is pulled the last 50 years great moments doing investigations on that level. out from under those in American journalism, I hate to I see Time Magazine turning over in the mainstream media, such as use the phrase but speaking truth the notes of a reporter and not do- the New York Times, CBS, who are to power occurred with chal- ing those investigations. still doing investigative reporting? lenging authority and exposing So, you’ll have to excuse me if Would non-profits be able to fill what needed to be exposed, the I’m slightly skeptical. I see Edward the gap? high-water mark was clearly the R. Murrow laying out McCarthy on Charles Lewis: Well, I don’t Pentagon Papers and the Water- the air in ’54. I see Walter Cronkite predict futures. And I don’t know gate case. And when the Center for doing a five-part series on Viet the future. I just want to make sure Public Integrity spends $600,000 Nam and LBJ deciding not to seek everybody knows I don’t have a on an investigation and uses 30 or re-election weeks later. And [then] theory about the future. . . I don’t 40 journalists on six continents—I I go to Iraq and I see hundreds of see a lot of wonderful investiga- failed to mention that we have an journalists embedded. The land-

21 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Brenda Lee Huerta, Univision Radio, asks questions during A Wake Up Call conference on Tuesday, Aug. 9. Photo by Wendi Poole scape is really weak. tive reporting groups all over the to tell you that. I’m one of these There are problems with the world. . . they are also, with their brick-by-brick kind of guys. I just non-profit journalism model—it’s reporting, creating the resignation start things, and I’m working on not a panacea. You have to worry or impeachment of presidents some new ones. about payroll and keeping the on multiple continents.. . so, can How the “Open Source” Method lights on and finding money. great journalism occur? Can large Can Help Us My board, almost all of whom sums of money be amassed? Can Dan Gillmor: There’s also some- are working journalists . . . but great journalists do good things thing that we might think about in I was told for 15 years that I did outside the mainstream and filter the future with the citizen journal- not have a sustainable business back to the mainstream and force ism sphere, and that is for investi- model, and we kept growing. . . it to take note? The answer is a re- gations to be done in what might The aim of the Center was never sounding “yes.” Do I know what’s be called an “open source” meth- to replace the mainstream. . . I going to happen in 2010 and 2020 od. While most big media inves- don’t know where all this is going. and 2030? Absolutely not. And tigations are done very opaque- . . there are non-profit investiga- I’m not going to remotely attempt ly—they’re done in secret—then

22 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio there’s this blow-out done at the ers. But we need to try. Center—would find hard to do. I end of the process. Many of them Harnessing the Power of Hori- think this will happen. It’s already should be done that way, if not zontal Reporting happening. most, but I think there are a lot of Jay Rosen: . . . my prediction is Q: How can this horizontal these that could be done where that the power of horizontal infor- model apply at the local level for someone says, early on in the mation gathering [via a blogger or newspapers? process, here’s what we’re looking site, such as Talkingpoints, asking Dan Gillmor: . . . This can work into. Can we get your help, please, constituents to call their congress- better probably locally than to the world? And you would find man to see how he voted in an ille- nationally. . . Tell people in the that people would have data, facts, gally closed meeting, then to relay community you’re working on the ideas, information that could feed that data to Talkingpoints] as op- following story. Start with some- into the process at the beginning. posed to putting a lot of money in thing simple, like local transporta- As opposed to waiting to have the a vertical organization and asking tion. People will come out of the thing appear in print, broadcast or a small dedicated group of people woodwork to tell you what they on the web and then say, I know to find things out—my prediction know. . . something else. And then you is that the power of horizontal Charles Lewis: I have an exam- get the follow-ups, which is the investigations to produce totally ple [of this horizontal model work- standard method. I think we ought effective truth which would have ing investigatively]. We pulled all to be experimenting with that. It’s been hard to do by other means, the records from the Indiana state something I’m planning on doing, will in fact be proven over the next legislature. We had 12 news orga- to get people in on something of few years. We will see that emerge nizations—conventional, main- this sort early and invite the com- as essentially another branch of stream news organizations, radio, munity, of whatever sort, to par- investigative journalism distrib- TV, the Indianapolis Star-News, ticipate in an investigative piece. uted over many people cooperat- not famous for their muckraking I suspect we’re going to find good ing to produce really powerful prowness—there was massive results in some cases, not in oth- work that individuals—even your coverage all over Indiana, inside

‘Start with something simple, like local transportation. People will come out of the woodwork to tell you what they know...’ — Dan Gillmor

Jay Rosen, NYU, leads an open forum discussion in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole

23 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘...they’ll take some of that and expand on it and do some better investigative reporting, but it’s gonna be a conglomeration of all these new sources that are going to give us better information. ’ — Neil Chase

of one week. Twenty-five hundred ing, what’s possible. people who inherit the news fran- readers contacted the paper, the Neil Chase: We’ve seen exam- chise in those towns. I really think largest response in the state’s his- ples in the past, pre-Internet, of they have to do this. They have to tory. This was called “Statehouse large metro dailies that became a find out how to use this new world Sellout: How Special Interests monopoly, didn’t do that much, because the age of mass media Hijacked the Legislature.” The were challenged by a smaller, lo- was different from our present newspaper has since done five ad- cal upstart newspaper and ended world in one really important way, ditional five-part series. The laws up having to dramatically race to which is that all the readers and about access to information in In- catch up and do a better job in everybody really important in diana changed within two weeks. the end of local coverage. What the audience, the people for- The Center now posts all the you’re going to see with what merly known as “the audience” financial disclosures for every Dan’s doing and some of the in the age of the media, were state legislator in America, all the other citizen journalism projects connected up, to the New York 527 groups throughout America, and with blogs and everything Times, to the hierarchy. all the political party committees else, there’s lots more informa- But not connected to each other; throughout America, and then tion coming to light, and the in fact, in a lot of ways, they were there’s a listserv of 3,000 local good newspapers can’t ignore separated from each other by ac- journalists in every community that. They have to take that tive reading of the newspaper. And that can then—because their own information, and in a perhaps now those same people might still papers, of course, don’t cover the perfect world, they’ll take some be connected up, but they are also legislature despite the 25,000 laws of that and expand on it and do connected horizontally to each that are passed every year. And so some better investigative report- other. And that’s a new fact for now, this is a resource that they ing, but it’s gonna be a conglom- people in journalism. can use, sitting in their newsroom eration of all these new sources And they’re going to have to without going to the state capitol, that are going to give us better get used to doing journalism perish the thought. information. under those conditions. I think And so, that is another example Jay Rosen: I think if local news- it’s a new challenge. But they of the web. And then local folks papers and sites don’t start to still retain many advantages in can play off of that data too and incorporate this kind of journal- that horizontal world. feed horizontally and in every ism and succeed with horizontal other direction. It’s kind of excit- reporting, that they won’t be the

24 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Can You Have Trust if You Practice Censorship by Omission? Why People of Color Don’t Read the Mainstream Media

Dori Maynard • President • Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education ‘Given the track record historically of censorship by omission...and the ongoing distortion of news about minority populations, leaders and is- sues, the mono-perspective content, the press has long failed its mission to inform.’—Dr. Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte, interview, May 2005

I would argue that the new me- I think in many ways John John- heard of it. But so very few people dia, the old media, whatever the son was the foundation of and the actually read it. And I would argue, medium, it doesn’t really matter, precursor to the huge explosion of although it’s just my guess, that if we continue to ignore so many ethnic media we see today. Read- many of you don’t read it because people in our communities. Actu- ership in Hispanic media has gone you think it has very little to do ally, I think it’s quite fitting that from 440,000 in 1990 to 1.8 million with your lives and it’s not very we’re meeting today, the day after today. You see the same explosion relevant to you. And I think that the death of John H. Johnson. As in the Asian press, and, of course, that same issue that you see with many of you may know, Mr. John- in the African American press, we relevance to Ebony and Jet is son was the founder of Johnson have not only Jet, Ebony, but we what’s happening to many people Publications, which published Eb- have BET and Essence. of color with the mainstream ony and Jet. In 1942 he took out a But before I go any further, I’d media. It just doesn’t seem that $500 loan to start his organization, like to ask how many people here relevant anymore. which last year had sales close to read Ebony or Jet. Content audit after content au- $500 million. It was actually 498; I So, for the vast majority who dit shows that people of color are hope you’ll forgive me for round- don’t read it, can you tell me why overrepresented in stories about ing up a little bit. you don’t read it...Okay, everyone’s crime, about entertainment, and

25 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Dori Maynard, president of the Maynard Institute, speaks at A Wake-Up Call conference in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole sports, and are underrepresented who started a multi-million dol- journalists are journalists of color. in everyday stories—business, lar empire, an icon in the African The numbers are only slightly bet- lifestyle, politics. If you want to American community, couldn’t ter in broadcast—22 percent. But see a great example of that, you even get a corner in the front of then if you look at the experience don’t need to go any further than the business section. of most journalists, it becomes today’s paper. So, when you look at that, you clear that not only are the num- Here, on the front page of USA begin to see why mainstream bers small, people don’t come to Today, a very large second-day media is becoming less and less our newsrooms equipped to do story on Peter Jennings, and a relevant to people of color. Now, credible cross-cultural coverage. small refer to John Johnson. It tells the reasons for that, I think, are Despite the fact that our country is you to go to the business section. fairly clear. We can go over them more diverse today than ever, we You go to the business section of really quickly. still lead largely segregated lives. USA Today, and he’s certainly not One is, if you look at who’s work- An analysis of the 2000 census by on the first page. There he is, on ing in our mainstream media, you the State University of New York the bottom of page 4B. The man know, 13 percent of newspaper at Albany found that your aver-

26 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘...it’s really time for us to admit those faultlines exist and begin to think of ways we can cross those faultlines.’

age white urban/suburban resi- and begin to think of ways that we same concern, that of context. But dent lived in neighborhoods and can cross those faultlines. because of our faultline percep- communities that were 80 percent A few years ago, the fact that tions, what we meant by context white. And people of color did we do see things through those was completely different. not live in communities that were faultlines became very clear to So we argue that in our news- much more diverse. So when we me. I was at the Poynter Institute; rooms we need to begin to have walk into our newsrooms, we walk we were doing a seminar on race conversations that expect that in ill-prepared to cover communi- and the media. During the course there are going to be those dif- ties other than our own. of the seminar we watched a clip ferences of opinion, but that we Examining Diversity Of Race, of Ted Koppel interviewing some need to have these conversations Class, Gender, Generation And white residents in a Philadelphia with the goal of understanding Geography neighborhood who did not want each other and not necessarily Now, the good news in all this people of color moving into their agreeing with each other. We think is that, at the Maynard Institute, neighborhood. They said when that these conversations, while I we do think that we have some- that happens, crime skyrockets focused on race, really do need to thing of a framework that can help and housing prices plummet. include the other faultlines. newsrooms do better cross-cul- I’m sitting there looking at that, Journalists as Occupying Forces tural coverage. My father, the late and I had to say, when the clip was in Communities They Cover Robert Maynard, former owner done, that there was no context. I One of the ones that’s largely and publisher of the Oakland kept expecting Ted Koppel to say, overlooked is geography. And I Tribune, spent a great deal of his you know, in all due respect, that think that’s extremely important life thinking and working on these there are African American neigh- because, as our career paths go issues. Shortly before he died, he borhoods in this country that are from market to market until we came up with what he called the more affluent and safer than some hit that destination market, the faultlines framework, which is white neighborhoods. When I people we talk to the most are the how we look at diversity. We look made that comment, it was a large people in our newsrooms. And so at diversity through the prisms of group and no one really listened. we don’t always learn the morés race, class, gender, generation and About five minutes later, a white and the nuances of what’s going geography. We say that those five male participant raised his hand on in the communities we cover. things not only shape our percep- and he said, there’s no context. He We’re almost like occupying forces. tions of ourselves, each other, and said that without context, that clip We come in for a little while, we events around us, but they are made all white people look as if tell people what’s going on, and the five things that divide us as a they were racist. then we move off. And then we nation. And it’s really time for us So there we were, we saw the wonder why people in our com- to admit that those faultlines exist exact same clip, we had the exact munities say, “You don’t get us.”

27 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio And the last time I did some faultlines training was actu- ally at the University of Nevada, Reno. I used, as a foundation for the training, a story that the New York Times had done on ad- vances in lung cancer treatment. And I asked the group to use that as a foundation and then to figure out angles that they could include in that story that looked at issues pertaining to race, to class, to gender, to generation, to geography. And when they were done, they had angles that looked Dori Maynard told conference participants that journalists need to pay at the disparity and treatment attention to five faultlines that affect coverage: race, class, gender, across class, the difference in generation and geography. Photo by Wendi Poole effectiveness in drugs across And we say, “Well, we gave you ering us from your middle-class race, the differences in commu- the facts.” But we didn’t put them point of view. You look at us and nity rates of cancer, both local in the context of your particular you see two families sharing one communities and regions. They community. house, sharing one car, and you looked at disparities between Discovering Journalists’ Blind call us poor. And we say, we have women and men, and they Spots a house. We have a car. We are looked at the difference in ag- Lastly, we argue that with fault- not poor. And it was a blind spot gressiveness, depending on your lines, we need to understand on our part. age and generation. that we all have blind spots, So what we hope that we will And in the two days since Pe- areas where our five faultlines be able to do is use faultlines sort ter Jennings has died and we’ve come together in such a way that of as a checklist. seen a number of stories on we simply don’t see something. Not only will you have your lung cancer, we have yet to see a This was made very clear to me conversations that understand story that was so complete, that when we went and we worked that you really will see things took a disease that affects us all with a paper, we gave them some differently, but that you will and covered it in a way that we faultlines training and we told have conversations that will help all saw ourselves. them to go out and to ask people you understand each other, not So today, when we think about in their community how they necessarily agree, but you also the death of John Johnson and could cover them differently. And have a checklist, like you have how he showed us how profit- a group came back who had talk- who, what, when, where, how, able covering people of color ed to some immigrants. And they why, you have race, class, gender, could be, I hope we will also see said, you know, you can stop cov- generation and geography. how possible it can be.

28 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Thirteen Percent of Americans Prefer Ethnic to Mainstream Media

Alice Tait • Central Michigan University • Co-editor of the series “Ethnic Media in America”

hat do ica: The Giant Hidden in Plain means that a staggering 29 mil- we mean, Sight.” It’s the first comprehensive lion adults—45 percent of the 64 restore the survey of its type looking at the million ethnic adults studied, or a public trust? audiences of ethnic media and full 13 percent of the entire adult What trust? how they feel about their relation- population of the United States— WhoW do we trust? Why do we trust ship to ethnic media, as well as prefer ethnic media. Eighty per- them, and have we ever trusted their relationship to mainstream cent of the ethnic media popula- them? Those are some of the ques- media. And here are a few of the tion studied is, in fact, reached by tions our panelists are going to major findings. ethnic media. answer for you this afternoon. The study revealed the strik- Where Ethnic Groups Get Their The other question is, if we don’t ing impact of ethnic media in the News trust them, what have we done United States. Forty-five percent Even though the ethnic media as a result of that? . . . the panel- of all African American, Hispanic, population studied tended to rely ists will answer that question with Asian American, Native Americans on the ethnic media for informa- respect to their involvement with and Arab Americans adults prefer tion about their communities their ethnic media. ethnic television, radio, or news- and countries of origin, African First, I’d like to talk to you about papers to their mainstream coun- Americans, Asian Americans, Arab a survey that was revealed in June terparts. These primary consum- Americans and Native Americans by the New California Media en- ers also indicated that they access prefer the mainstream media titled “The Ethnic Media in Amer- ethnic media frequently. This when it comes to information

29 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio about politics and the United States government. Hispanics were the only group studied who prefer ethnic media to main- stream media for their informa- tion about political affairs. There’s a little more informa- tion about their relationship with certain news organizations. Four of the five ethnic groups studied trust CNN more than Fox News to deliver accurate news and information. Arab Americans and Asian Americans prefer CNN to Fox News by a more than 4-to-1 ratio, Hispan- ics, 2-to-1, African-Americans by 4-to-3 also trust CNN, but by a smaller ratio. Native Ameri- cans are evenly divided in their opinion about the objectivity of the two major cable networks. Let me give you a few facts about the consumption habits of each of the groups that came away from this survey. Hispanics—Spanish language and television has universal reach. There’s a growing penetration of Spanish-language newspapers. Hispanics tend to have very low access to the Internet. For African-Americans, there’s Alice Tait speaks during A Wake-Up Call conference on Aug. 9. a strong penetration of African- Photo by Wendi Poole American radio. There is substan- tial reach of African-American pino weekly newspapers, there’s television was the most popu- newspapers, and there’s average significant reach of Asian Indian lar medium, and they have very access to the Internet. monthly publications, growing high access to the Internet. For Asian Americans—there’s penetration of Korean and Chi- Native Americans, tribal news- strong reach of Korean, Chinese, nese television, and they have papers are the most popular and Vietnamese newspapers. high access to the Internet. media, and they have average There’s significant reach of Fili- For Arab Americans, Arab access to the Internet.

30 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Immigrants Have a Different Definition of What’s News

Alejandro Manrique • Managing Editor• Rumbo de San Antonio

‘It is very difficult to address how to restore trust in ethnic media when your readers have never had trust in media’—Alejandro Manrique

he question of how Central America or Latin America, panic readers, we have to ask, how to restore the trust they don’t even trust the media. do we teach them to trust? [We between or among They don’t trust the government have to teach them] the standards, ethnic media, as there. So the question must be ad- the way independent journalism you call it, gives dressed in the following way: How is done. That is the first issue. meT a lot of trouble. A little bit of do we gain the trust of readers The other point is that our Rum- context. . . we’ve launched four who face many challenges here in bo readers are not used to reading. newspapers in Texas last year, one this country? Most of them are immigrants who, in San Antonio, one in Houston, ... There is no independent me- some of them, are illiterate, some one in Austin and one in the Rio dia in Latin American countries. who can read but they don’t trust, Grande Valley. These newspapers I lived there, I was an investiga- they have a lack of education. And are entirely devoted to the im- tive journalist there, and I can tell they come here and face other migrant community, first, second you that. We have examples of types of struggles. They are here and third generation immigrants. independent journalism, of good for survival. They are entirely in Spanish. journalism, but that is not the ....despite all those...difficulties, ...It is very difficult to address mainstream. The mainstream is if they come to this country—and how to restore trust in ethnic me- that you have the government tied we have done a lot of studies, a lot dia when your readers have never to the media. of research—it is very likely that had trust in media. The immi- So, before we can talk about how the immigrants will begin to trust, grants who come from Mexico or to regain trust between our His- if the media that they read do the

31 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Alejandro Manrique of Rumbo de San Antonio speaks at A Wake-Up Call conference about restoring trust to minority readers. Photo by Wendi Poole right thing. of life, is not that simple when it of our Hispanic tradition. . . If But when I talk about “do the comes to [this] readership. what is news for them trespasses right thing,” that involves a lot of . . . Not only what is news, but their right to privacy and intimacy questions. A lot of issues. We have how we can present the news. [it becomes offensive]. . . to redefine, for example, what is Also, we face a lot of issues involv- ...news also means for us a way the concept of our news. . . news is ing intimacy and truth-telling. to educate our readers on how to a changing concept, depending on Here, the boundaries between survive in this country. . . and, as cultures and on the times. ...Ev- what is intimate and what is my bosses say, how to put brown erything is news for them. They public information is pretty much faces in the newspaper, to give are in a new country, they don’t defined. But when it comes to a some recognition to our people, understand most of the things that community of readers like His- to put them in stories and on the happen here, so the traditional panics, things are really differ- front pages. . .that’s the way I can concept of news, meaning an ent. Because Hispanic people . . . respond to the question, how to interruption in the normal events weigh intimacy a lot more because restore trust.

32 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Is There A Need For Mainstream Media?

George White • Assistant director• UCLA Center for Communications and Community

e do com- is there a need for mainstream media trying to get into the game. munications media? With the New York Times trying workshops I think there is. I think there is to start what is, effectively, a black nationwide, a need for a common square, a newspaper in Gainseville, Florida. and what public square of opinion, of infor- We’ve seen it with the Chicago Tri- weW do is help journalists get bet- mation. But it’s clear that public bune company with Hoy—there ter connected to communities, square is going to be smaller in are lots and lots of examples. which is what public, civic jour- the future, because there’s no way This is the trend when we look at nalism should be about. . . we also we’re going to reverse the trends the changing demographics of help non-profits and community we’ve been seeing in the past 15 this country. We’re going to see a groups nationwide understand years. We heard some of the num- continuation of this niche-news journalists better, so they can do a bers. . . New California Media with approach. better job of connecting with me- regard to the loyalty that consum- Can the Mainstream Media Ap- dia and getting their stories told, ers of ethnic media have toward peal to Ethnic Groups? or if they choose to create their their newspapers and television There will be some difficulty for own media . . . and radio stations. They have not mainstream media trying to reach One of the questions I was asked been served by the mainstream communities of color. We’ve seen to address was to consider, is there media. They are finding what they it already, for example, with the a need, considering the declining need elsewhere. Chicago Tribune and Hoy, where readership in mainstream media, What we do see is mainstream they had some circulation scan-

33 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio dals. We’ve seen it in sort of the lack of quality coverage in some of these satellites of mainstream media. Basically, the problem is this, and it’s the problem mainstream media has with its overall audience: It is too focused on the bottom line. These companies are public companies, they are concerned about sharehold- er price, and so therefore they will not, or have not, put the resources into these new alternative media, which are designed in many cases to reach people of color. I was recently on a panel whose George White during A Wake-Up Call conference in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole topic was similar to this. . . [public relations professionals] were look- his articles because they don’t read ing specifically at ethnic media A coalition made up of the L.A. the L.A. Times. Not [just] those who or minority media, and what was chapter of the National Association don’t speak English, but the English interesting was the composition of of Black Journalists, the California speakers. And so he felt somewhat the panel, or at least three-fourths Chicano News Association—which out of sorts—who is he writing for? of it—at one end was a former L.A. is the largest journalism associa- Maybe, he said, there are some Times reporter, a former colleague tion of color, by the way—and the whites who are concerned about the of mine, who had quit about five L.A. chapter of the Asian American Asian community who are reading months earlier to start an English- Journalists Association came to- his reports, but that’s pretty much it. language magazine for the Latino gether. We called it the Unity Media How Some Journalists Are market in Los Angeles—there are al- Access Project, UMAP for short. Connecting With Communities ready two monthly magazines in the ...in ...three years, we did 30 com- of Color city—but Latinos don’t read them. munity engagement sessions in all ...Let me go back with my his- And even English-speaking Latinos, parts of Southern California, where tory, very briefly. Right after the for the most part, don’t read them. So we had journalists come and talk riots in Los Angeles in 1992, the he felt there was a market for it, and about their jobs... Ford Foundation looked at the he seems to be doing fairly well. This is something we need to situation there and came to the Right next to me was an L.A. Times be about, no matter what we’re conclusion that the mainstream reporter, much younger—I left the involved in, mainstream media or media didn’t have any idea what Times five years ago—so I did not ethnic media. .. we need to make was going on in communities of know him. He was an Asian Ameri- sure that, whether it’s minority color in Southern California. We can journalist whose assignment media or ethnic media or main- journalists already knew that. But was to cover the Asian American stream media, that those news the Ford Foundation wanted to community. He said, more than organizations are trying to con- do something about it. They were once, the Asian American commu- nect with the communities they’re willing to fund something. nity does not, for the most part, read supposed to be serving.

34 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Small Papers Have a Big Place on the News Media Spectrum Daily Encounters with Readers Reinforce Trust

Peggy Kuhr •Knight Chair in Journalism• University of Kansas

‘I think of local newspapers as the last refuge of unfiltered America, a running documentary of the warts and triumphs of real people, unfet- tered by the spin and bias and opaque polish of today’s homogenized journalism. It’s the difference between homemade bread and Pop-Tarts.’ —Jock Lauterer

f Squirrel Species Can While I was there, I learned the the other. Coexist, Why Can’t Vari- story of the red squirrels and the Now, in an ecological sense, you ous News Media? gray squirrels in Missoula. You would think. . . that one subspe- Let’s turn to the topic see, years ago red squirrels lived cies of squirrel would out-com- at hand, mass media on only one side of the Clark Fork pete the other. Over the long term, meetsI community and niche River, which bisects that town. one kind of squirrel would disap- media. I’d like to start by talking And the gray squirrels lived on pear, and the other would survive. about squirrels. I spent the last the other side. One day engineers And triumph. couple of months in Missoula, come to town, and engineers build But that has not happened. And Montana, hanging out with folks bridges. And the squirrels could that’s because of something called who are scientists and ecologists. more easily cross from one side to “the principle of competitive

35 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘Can... news media organizations, staffed by homo sapiens, learn something from the principle of competitive exclusion? I want to know if journalists can learn anything from ecology.’

Peggy Kuhr during A Wake-Up Call conference in San Antonio. — Peggy Kuhr Photo by Wendi Poole exclusion.” That principle is part and community journalism are weekly newspaper, the Southport of what scientists call “the theory all about? I really want to know Pilot.. . . [the governor said] “As I of niche.” What that tells us is whether journalists can learn any- was reading this newspaper, I was that the strongest organisms, the thing from ecology. recognizing all these names and strongest species, are those that Jock Lauterer, Founder, Carolina faces of people I knew, all the wed- avoid head-to-head competition. Community Media Project, Uni- dings, the school news, the sports, They are those who survive by de- versity of North Carolina at Chapel even the obits, so by the time I got veloping their own unique specifi- Hill to the other side of the harbor. . . cations and specializations. Staying ‘relentlessly local’ is [he asked the captain of the ferry In the case of the squirrels, they the key boat he was on if he could keep didn’t compete for the same ter- The first thing that a commu- the paper] and this is what the ritory once they started living on nity journalist knows is, it’s all captain told the newly elected the same side of the river. They about access. I believe there’s a governor of North Carolina: “No, nest in different parts of a tree, direct correlation between access I’m not done with it.” they eat different kinds of food. and trust. Here’s a story. . . people This is a three-day-old weekly So. I’m taking the squirrel story want to know what community newspaper, y’all. Another little and bringing it back to the world journalism is. . . . I’ve got a story story. . . some of you may be famil- of media. Can. . . news media told by the newly elected gover- iar with Baxter Black, the cowboy organizations, staffed by homo nor of the state of North Carolina, poet who writes a wonderful sapiens, learn something from the Mike Easely, who . . . decided to go column. He wrote a column head- principle of competitive exclu- home to his hometown of South- lined “Why I Love my Hometown sion? Is this what niche products port. . . home of the state’s best Newspaper.” [the San Pedro, Ari-

36 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio zona Sun-News, a weekly.] Here’s bias and opaque polish of today’s ‘What is it these the quote: “Small town newspa- homogenized journalism. It’s the pers often thrive because CNN difference between homemade newspapers know or the New York Times are not bread and Pop-Tarts. going to scoop them for coverage What is it that these newspapers that, perhaps, other of headlines like ‘VFW Fish Fry’ know that, perhaps, other news- or ‘Bridge Construction Delay’ or papers may not know? Some of newspapers do not...it ‘Boys and Girls Playing Basketball you may have read, or are reading, Receive Scholarship’ or graduating The Tipping Point? A darn good simply means they are or getting married. Or going off to book in which the author talks war. about “stickiness” and products or memorable and vital to I think of local newspapers institutions having “stickiness”—it as the last refuge of unfiltered simply means they are memorable you. I think community America, a running documentary and vital to you. I think commu- of the warts and triumphs of real nity newspapers have that. newspapers have that. ’ people, unfettered by the spin and As long ago as 1984, CBS leg- — Jock Lauterer

Jock Lauterer from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill talks about the power of community papers. Photo by Wendi Poole

37 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio end Charles Kuralt was giving the commencement address at my ‘Who won the Pulitzer this year for university [UNC at Chapel Hill]. . . I heard him with my own ears say, investigative reportering? An urban alternative “Salvation of the American media would be that the media become weekly. Right there in Portland, Ore.’ relentlessly local.” This is in 1984. — Jock Lauterer Kuralt called for us. . . to become relentlessly local. . . So yes, Peggy, there is an entire Don’t you know what I mean? I with a paper. . . .I think many of niche of community newspapers, don’t think Jayson Blair would those papers are not very good. 97 percent of all American news- have lasted one week at a com- Some of them don’t cover the papers have circulations of 50,000 munity newspaper. . he would town very well, and they’re very or under. And ASNE calls those have been outed! So the cred- vulnerable. “small newspapers.” I call them ibility and the trust, the sort of Jan Larsen, University of Wis- community newspapers because relationship, really has every- consin: We have a locally owned their emphasis is local, local, local. thing to do with accountability paper, and I’ve worked for both That’s what it’s all about, folks. and access, because people locally owned papers and chains, And so as we look at our num- know they can walk right in, and and I think that the problem in our bers and we look at our attitudes they do. Those of you who have area with some of those smaller that we’re hearing being talked worked at small newspapers papers is that they are so worried about today, I hope that we can know this is an absolute factor about advertising that they don’t all reflect on the importance of and we must keep our doors want to tick anyone off. And I’ve the local media. And remem- open. It’s not just putting our seen some recent campaigns to ber that, of all those papers email at the end of the story, print “happy news” and only “good out there, a huge percentage of which is a great idea, by the way. news” in order to try to attract those 9,000 newspapers—7,000 You’ve got to be out there, and readers, but the feedback that I’ve plus—are weeklies. That is a fac- get out of the newsroom. It’s a been getting from the community tor we need to talk more about, critical dynamic. has been disappointment that they it’s a huge growth area. Leonard Witt: I’ve noticed, up are underestimating the intelli- Who won the Pulitzer this year in Carroll County, New Hamp- gence of their audience. for investigative reporting? An ur- shire, now, there’s a listserv So I think that even local pa- ban alternative weekly. Right there that’s almost doing what the pa- pers have some work to do with in Portland, Oregon. per used to do before. People get their credibility in that regard. Accountability is Most Keen at on it, they talk to each other, it’s Jock Lauterer: For every crum- the Local Level really independent of the news- my newspaper that you men- How many of you have worked paper, it’s lively. . . I’m far away tion—there are plenty of them— at a community newspaper? . . from there now, but I still own there are others that are heroic, . If I write anything that doesn’t property there, and from a dis- that are led by—and this is criti- ring true with the community, tance I can really keep up with cal—great leaders. Great newspa- I’m going to get ambushed over what’s going on better than I can pers are the result of great people. the broccoli in the Food Lion.

38 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio How Do We Get Youth to First Read or Watch and Then Trust the News?

Kendra Hurley •Editor, Youth Media• Reporter, Ymreporter.com

‘Teens really want news that’s similar to citizen journalism. They don’t want it coming from a God-like source, they don’t want it sounding like the Gospel, they want it from a peer, they want it with opinion, they want it with analysis, and they want it to somehow be able to link it to who they are personally.’ —Kendra Hurley

eggy Kuhr: I’d like are going to be larger than those about whether young people are to look at niche of us in the aging Baby Boomer using it for news or for a lot of in another way category—we are not going to rule other activities. . . now, and move to any longer. So I’d like to have Kendra talk so-called “youth But you can say that youth is in to us about young people and media.”P Now, there are many who the minority when it comes to au- whether they really care about the would say that young people are dience and content of mainstream news. What’s going on here? not a niche. Indeed, they are our news media. So we know about Kendra Hurley: Yes, young future, and if you look at their all of the reports. . . the declin- people do care about the news. A numbers, particularly the num- ing newspaper readership, the Carnegie study found that young bers in . . . Generation Y, which is declining network viewership, the people aged 18 to 29 read blogs 9 or 10 years old up to 26 or 27. . . Internet growing and growing, and often, and 44 percent of young their numbers in a few short years the questions that are being asked adults surveyed visited a web

39 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio news portal every day. told basically by the media, that And so, though I can’t speak for they weren’t going to amount to all young people...I worked for anything, kind of talking back and seven years at a publisher who saying, here’s how that affected publishes two magazines written us, here’s how we overcame the by teenagers. The one I worked on stigma. was called “Represent,” written by And that got a huge amount teenagers in foster care, and the of national attention, it was on other one is “Youth Connections,” NPR, the AP wrote a story about which has a circulation of 200,000 it, Columbia Journalism Review and goes to New York City high wrote about it. And so the impact schools, written by teens in New youth media can have is huge, York City. but I think radio’s really embraced The kids at those organizations youth media, online journalism were definitely interested in what Kendra Hurley. has embraced it as well, AlterNet Photo by Wendi Poole was going on but didn’t really see has a youth media site, Wiretap, themselves represented in the me- which is part of it. A lot of radio dia, so they weren’t interested in somehow be able to link to who stations like NPR will play youth- adult reporters interpreting their they are personally. produced spots. life for them. And also—teens are That’s what youth media is all But print, especially newspa- very rarely quoted in the stories about. There are numerous or- pers, are shy about working with about them, and most stories ganizations across the country youth media organizations. about teens are negative. They’re where journalists are working Peggy Kuhr: I would mention about crime or gangs or teens get- closely with young people in radio, that a couple of years ago, just as ting involved in drugs. online journalism, video, print the war in Iraq was starting, MTV So all of that is quite off-putting publications like the ones I just did a documentary and the whole and similar to what people were held up, to create media where point of their documentary was to talking about with ethnic media. the teens bring their stories to the talk to young people over in Iraq, For teens, they’re almost like a table and the journalists, who are both soldiers, nurses who were community in themselves, and a the adult working professionals, stationed over there, and young lot of the media that they read re- help them tell those stories in a Iraqis. What you realize when you ally isn’t culturally relevant. way that’s compelling. watch something like that or hear So, what studies have found, And so, when I was working at something like this is, it is a war and what I saw as well, was that “Represent,” it could take up to fought by young people, and we teens really want news that’s eight months to work on a story do not hear from them, and we do similar to citizen journalism. with a writer, but the stories we not see them through that per- They don’t want it coming from a got were really amazing. We ran spective in the mainstream media. God-like source, they don’t want an issue where a bunch of our Kendra Hurley: You really need it sounding like the Gospel, they writers wrote about being labeled to have an operation that’s set want it from a peer, they want it ‘crack babies,’ and that—it was for up to work closely with the kids, with opinion, they want it with the 20-year anniversary for crack. because all sorts of emotional stuff analysis, and they want it to These were kids, who had been comes up. Teens are writing about

40 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio So How Is One Mainstream Media Paper Coping? The Answer is Niches.

Brett Thacker •Managing Editor • San Antonio Express-News

‘Brett [Thacker]... in April, your newspaper was Named Newspaper of the Year here in Texas at the APME annual meeting...How do you characterize the financial and editorial health of your newspaper?’ —Peggy Kuhr

rowing Vertically ration for success on both levels. [Newspaper Assoc. of America] Versus Growing I think we’ve been able to achieve So, in San Antonio, our circulation Horizontally what we’ve been able to do, and base is pretty solid. Our advertis- As editors, also deliver to our corporate fa- ing base is pretty solid. we’re a lot more thers, the returns that they need. We have lost, like a lot of other familiarG with the business side of Now, could we take more money newspapers, classified advertising things than we used to be, because out of that? Absolutely. We wish through the years because of Mon- business does drive our ability that we could. ster.com and because of Craigslist. to do things, unfortunately. The . . .Weeklies readership is up 10 These are phenomena that are out Express-News is, by all measures, percent in the last 15 years. Dailies there and that we’ve got to address a very successful newspaper, both are down 13 percent in the last 15 if we’re going to remain viable. financially and journalistically. We years, Sunday, about 7 percent. Also, department stores. The big are the poster child in our corpo- These [stats] are from the NAA auto dealers. Foley’s, which is one

41 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio Brett Thacker of the San Antonio Express-News speaks during A Wake-up Call conference. Photo by Wendi Poole of our largest advertisers, is going keep growing like this, which is called “Business Express,” and I away in the next year, and Macy’s the core product—it’s gotta be have it here. It’s—the main moti- will not advertise as much as they horizontal, like that. That means vation, and several other markets did. We lost Montgomery Ward’s, niche products. have done this—is, stock pages we lost Kmart. Launching Niche Products are not used very much. Everyone So, fortunately, we’re in a grow- Niche products take some in- goes online for the most part, but ing market where new business vestment in terms of manpower there is a die-hard core of readers, activity is almost constant, so and the corporate fathers also older readers, who still want their we’re able to replace that busi- have to bless this, too. information out of the newspa- ness. But there’s going to come a One thing that we had done a pers. point—we underwent a strategic couple of years ago—honestly, it At the same time we knocked conversation last year on where’s was a cost-saving measure to save our stock pages out of our Satur- our business headed—and the newsprint on our full run—is a day newspapers, we provided to mantra was, we’re not going to publication we do every Saturday them—at a cost, of course—a pub-

42 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio lication, it’s 36 pages each week, community. A lot of our Hispanics Now we have an annual advi- half of it is stock listings, the mu- have been here for many genera- sory board called the Teen Team, tuals, a full run of them, plus some tions. where we take a couple of dozen pretty good journalism too, along As a result. . over time, Connex- kids from around the area and the way. And we’ve achieved our ion has gone from 50/50 to more our features editor. . . works with goal in terms of the circulation on like 80/20, English to Spanish. these kids to help them develop this. We wanted to get the circula- People ask, well, how do you fig- their writing skills, so we get their tion to a certain point to where the ure that out? It’s more by feel than voices in the newspaper. returns would not be diminished it is by anything else. People tend They have voiced their opinion by—I hate to use this phrase, as an to like shorter blocks of Spanish on the election, they do movie editor—the bottom line. so they can at least test it. . . That’s reviews, they do all kinds of In the meantime, we’ve pro- been a big success in terms of ad- things, so we’re getting them into duced some good stories in this vertising. Our circulation is ahead print and hopefully planting the newspaper, in this 15,000 circula- of budget, ahead of plan. We have seeds in them . . . it’s a start. We’d tion, and it’s gone over to the main 50,000 circulation weekly. . . . love to do a stand-alone publica- sheet, too. So that’s been a success Beyond that, there are other tion, we’re trying to get our arms journalistically as well as saving niches too that we need to look around it. . . And there are blogs our resources. into. Of course, online plays a big too, getting back to the online fac- Now, last year, about a year and role in that. In fact, we are blog- tor. a half ago, . . . we launched a bilin- ging here today. Getting our arms Reporters as Bloggers, Citizens gual weekly called Connexion.... around the youth market—that’s as Contributors We envisioned this originally as the big issue. The median age We’ve toyed with a lot of things. half Spanish, half English. If you of our readership continues to We can only do so much at once. know anything about San Antonio, creep upward. I think our daily A lot of our reporters are starting about half the people here can readership is, like, 50. Our Sunday to do blogs now, in their areas of speak Spanish. The reading and readership is in the mid to upper expertise—for instance, we have writing proficiency is about 10 40s. That just creeps upward and a beer blog, a gardening blog. percent or less. A lot of those peo- upward. . . and the question is, We will blog big events, like, we ple actually have no preference; how do you appeal to the younger blogged the hurricane recently— they can go either way. ... A lot of readers? Do you do it online, do we had our reporters out there people who come up from the you do it with a print product? filing dispatches from various South will go to Dallas, they’ll go We tried dedicated pages in our points around the map in Texas to Houston, they’ll go elsewhere, feature section, with a dedicated and Mexico, where they were. but this is a very acculturated editor—that didn’t work that well. I would like to see something

‘A lot of our reporters are starting to do blogs now, in their areas of expertise — for instance, we have a beer blog, a gardening blog. We will blog big events, like we blogged the hurricane recently....’

43 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio create a broad understanding? ‘We’ve been here for 140 years, I think we’re Brett Thacker: . . . I think we have to pick our niches, at going to stay around, but we’ve got to adapt. I least from the get-go, the ones that make the most sense. But think niche is definitely where it’s at...’ in terms of being all things to — Brett Thacker all people. . . the Internet is a great democratizer of informa- tion, obviously. You can get it out there, you can say what that Seattle has done, Houston is Epic 2014, there’s a 2015 ver- you have to say, you can find doing it, where your community sion now—it envisions a world whatever you want out there. . is broken down within your large ten years from now, taking the . By the same token, I also see a metro area and you build a site for technology we have today and coarsening in the dialogue that them—essentially, here are some extrapolating it forward, so that we have, with our readers and links to the community, here are basically Google and Amazon rule just among each other in all of stories out of the main product the world. Mainstream media is society, because I think the great to populate the site, but then you just for the infirm, the elderly or broad center is either mute or have citizen journalists who can something. . . it’s kind of a doom people are gravitating to either help to put more content there. and gloom scenario. end of the spectrum and as a That’s a model that I think we’re I think we have brand names in result, we are polarized. That’s all going to go to at some point if our community that we can parlay what we’re seeing every day, we’re going to stay relevant. We’ve into something special, it’s just a because people can seek out—if been here for 140 years, I think we’re matter of getting the motivation they disagree with something in going to stay around, but we’ve got from our corporate fathers to say, the newspaper or on our web- to adapt. I think niche is definitely this is the future, and I think at site, they can go find something where it’s at, but we cannot ignore Hearst we’re starting to see this contradictory and say, “Why the main product because, being all now. We have a very bright man didn’t you print this?” Well, what things to all people, that all major named Lincoln Milstein who is on they’re talking about is extremely metro dailies are, you’re not going board with us now who is pushing partisan and, quite frankly, to to please everyone. With the Inter- us more to the blogosphere, more use the word, it’s biased. But net, obviously, we’re hearing more to other areas online to extend the it appeals to their sensibility. and more each day from them, and franchise and insure our future. They can seek it out. They feel we’ve answered them. We try to be Question from the audience: It warm. They’re conforming in as interactive as possible, but in the seems to me the notion of niche their own way. Here we are, end—I think really, 10, 15, 20 years media has a dilemma built into it: trying to occupy the moral and from now. . . we’re still going to be journalism is supposed to create journalistic high ground, and here, I think. common ground, common under- we’re getting shelled from both Have any of you seen the Epic standing. . . but if everyone is read- sides because people want what 2015 video that’s online? It’s very ing what is interesting to them and they believe. And it’s out there scary at first. When I first saw what is relevant to them, how do and they can seek it and be re- it—this basically—go Google you reconcile that with this need to affirmed daily, online.

44 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio What the News Media Future Will Look Like A Jay Rosen-Led Conversation

Jay Rosen • New York University • Author of the blog PressThink David Gyimah • Producer and journalist • University of Westminster, UK Bill Grueskin • Managing editor • Wall Street Journal Online Chris Nolan • Stand-alone journalist Craig Newmark • Founder • Craigslist.com

‘I know the title of this conference is Restoring the Trust, but I wonder if it has more to do with restoring the identity and restoring the sense that you as a newspaper or a publication or a weblog, you build an identity with your readers and they thereby build their identity around what you are doing.’ —Bill Grueskin, Wall Street Journal Online

irect Feeds From web, all sort of working together. had two things in her hand. One Citizens at Bill Grueskin, Managing editor, was this newspaper called A.M. the Scene [See Wall Street Journal Online New York—it’s a very popular free David Gyimah’s Building an Identity With tabloid and the other thing was view of the fu- Readers this stuff, which is called ‘vita- tureD at ViewMagazine.tv by visiting Bill Grueskin: My vision of the min water’ —do any of you drink his website www.viewmagazine.tv] future came to me while on a sub- vitamin water? She was reading Jay Rosen: Okay, so that’s a vi- way in New York a couple weeks this newspaper like it was the last sion of the future that says it could ago.. . on the subway nowadays, chapter of The DaVinci Code and look like magazine journalism you really look people over, and I she was drinking this stuff like it plus broadcast journalism plus was watching one woman. . . she was the elixir of the gods, and it

45 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio kind of made me think two things: are going to build their identity one was . . .it wasn’t that long ago around what other people are that people would pay for this writing. And yet this is a challenge [the free tabloid] and get this for for the mainstream media guys free [the costly water] . . . but then like me to figure out how are we what I really thought about was. going to adapt our journalism, . . why would anybody pay $2.99 and especially our websites in for a bottle of this stuff—okay, order to enable people to be part 1.99; the profit margin . . .must of them. be—I went and bought one and Jay Rosen: We’re going to move brought it to my office and I asked right to Chris Nolan, who is in the people under 30 working for me midst of trying to build her own and I said, what is it about this operation online. When you look stuff, and one of the women said, at what’s going to happen with the it shows who you are, you drink craft that you love, with the world this, it says something about you. that you’ve been a part of as a . .what interested me, I thought journalist, what do you see? about it some more, and it used Chris Nolan, Stand-alone online to be that what you read said journalist something about you, that what How People Consume News Has you read used to really define who Changed you were in many ways. And I say Chris Nolan: I see a lot of things. that as editor of a website that is a . . All right. The one thing I want subscription website. to start out by saying is, there are We have just a little under a lot of people who read the Wall 750,000 subscribers. One thing Street Journal . . . but as someone I’ve found about the Journal is who wrote for the New York Post that, for a lot of people, it is part for a very long time, I’m here to of their identity. . . . I think that’s tell you that there are lots of those been true for a long time about people out there too—they just newspapers. . . I know the title of don’t talk about how they used to this conference is Restoring the read the New York Post. And that, Trust, but I wonder if it has more my friends, is one of the conun- to do with restoring the identity drums of journalism in urban and restoring the sense that you as markets. a newspaper or a publication or a I see a bunch of things going on, weblog, you build an identity with but the main thing I see is prob- your readers and they thereby ably your worst nightmare, which From top: Panelists Bill Grueskin, build their identity around what is that people don’t identify and Chris Nolan, Craig Newmark and you are doing. readers don’t identify with one David Gyimah. Photos by Wendi Poole So when you ask what’s going site, one publication, one place. to get bigger, I think. . . people That they start to surf and surf ag-

46 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio gressively, and they move through That’s how people outside, who have voices. My voices are popu- websites not as you, as newspaper consume and read what we in the lar. Would you like my popular editors or educators of journalists newspaper business have been voices to appear in your not-so- prefer to think of them as these producing for the past twenty popular newspaper? Perhaps you entities, but they sort of clip along, years now get their news. It’s a big will become more popular. clippety, clippety, because they’re change. It’s only going to get big- It’s a pretty basic strategy, but using a technology called RSS, ger. it’s based on the idea that read- which stands for ‘really simple I am building a website that is ers go to voices, and readers go syndication’. And it allows them a collection of voices on the web to information that is presented to read the headlines the way we that is designed to take advan- in a new way, because informa- in newsrooms have forever read tage of this. How am I going to do tion is ubiquitous. And I don’t see the AP wire. “Oh, that happened? that? I am hoping that I am going that stopping. I mean, we’re in the Oh, cool. Okay, we’ve gotta move to get some help from big media, midst of it right now, and it is the somebody over there, okay.” because what I’m going to say is, I most frightening thing to people

Conference participants talk during dinner on Aug. 9 at A Wake-Up Call conference in San Antonio. Photo by Wendi Poole

47 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio ‘...one reporter asked if I was the anti-Christ of the print media... given the work I do on Craigslist as a customer service rep...’ — Craig Newmark Craig Newmark. Photos by Wendi Poole like Bill and the Wall Street Journal print media. . . given the work I do the focus back for mainstream and even more so, to the New York on Craigslist as a customer service news on being community service Times. rep, fortunately I’ve become real rather than a profit center. That But it’s absolutely enervating to optimistic about people. Combine may not make Rupert Murdoch people like me who spent much of that with my rich fantasy life and happy—although I have been their career in places like the New here’s my take on things: impressed by his appearances on York Post, where it’s like, “Okay, It used to be, from what I’ve read The Simpsons. let’s go get ‘em!” So, that’s what I and from what a lot of people in Putting Some Attitude in the see. the business have told me, news- News Jay Rosen: Craig, I suspect you papers used to be regarded as a Other trends I think I see, espe- were invited here not because you community service. cially when I talk to the youth—re- were a journalist or are really do- That’s how we perceive our- member, the most trusted name ing any journalism yourself, but selves. We’re not a nonprof- in news among the young de- for what you might know about it—we’re almost all free, but we mographics. . . is The Daily Show trust, which is the theme of this are, on paper, a for-profit—and with Jon Stewart. This may not be conference. So, when you look the deal is that, when it comes music to one’s ears but you know, at where the world is going and to newspapers, they used to be he takes chances, he tries to tell where the world of trust online perceived primarily as providing the truth. This makes a big differ- is going, and try to envision the the public with a service, even way ence. I do think news with an at- future of your own organization, back in the mid-1700s when pam- titude will become more and more what are you seeing? phlets were the big deal—I guess important. Craig Newmark, Founder, Craig- that’s the earliest form I know of A couple weeks ago I was in slist.com citizen journalism. London and for the first time, Newspapers Once Again as Nowadays, from what people reading the British press seriously, Centers of Community Service who seem to know the news busi- the Guardian, stuff like that. These Instead of Profit ness a lot more than I do tell me, guys have attitudes, they’re biased, Craig Newmark: I’m very aware is that newspapers are increas- you know what their biases are, that I’m speaking, in a large re- ingly perceived as profit centers. and they’re often smartasses, with spect, with some ignorance be- So in my optimism, I see this which I can identify, and the deal cause I’m pretty much a dilettante whole movement—that of citizen is that I think that’s going to be a in these matters.. . . one reporter journalism, that of the destructive big trend in news. asked if I was the anti-Christ of the economics—as maybe changing I think in our country we’ve had

48 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio an experiment in what’s called There are new technologies that Q: Craig, I’ve seen you quoted as objectivity, but Dan [Gillmor] over are going to promote these trends. saying your aim is not to destroy there wrote this essay—I think it’s People are starting to develop the conventional base of news- called “The End of Objectivity”— now, in the sense of getting fund- papers, but you can see how, to a and I think we’re going to replace ing, websites which will do things. degree, that’s happening. . . you’ve that with something which I guess . . people are trying to build the said you’d consider including is just plain fairness. I think that mechanisms, which will extract quality journalism or endowing a will change things. out of the news, what are the really journalism institution. . . which, if Chris Nolan: One reason the UK big stories that are happening, any of those, is true? press is the way it is, is because and what are the most trustwor- Craig Newmark: Right now, it’s so competitive—I mean, how thy versions of those stories. I’m we don’t know what we’re doing, many papers were you reading? hoping they also add follow-up to frankly. . . something needs to be Craig Newmark: Well, Chris has that. . . sometimes I see really big done, it’s incumbent upon us, so a good point and maybe the UK stories that are in the news one we’re exploring things. For exam- press is competitive because dif- day, and then disappear the next. ple, I fantasize about—personally, ferent papers have distinct atti- Those are happening, and frankly, not Craigslist—sending money tudes. . . when any of us read stuff me personally, I’m considering a to the Center for Public Integrity or listen to the news, we’re often microscopic investment in one of or the Center for Investigative looking for attitude, for point of them. Just to make that perfectly Reporting. . . . the deal is, maybe view, something which isn’t just clear, that’s Craig talking, not my role in this personally is just to bland. Craigslist talking. . . . make noise, accelerate the move- And sometimes you know, when And finally, technology changes. ment. . . and then maybe I just someone is reporting the news. My instincts tell me that in a few stop talking then, because I’m out . . well, the best example is the years we may have these little itty- of my depth. . . there is a possibil- White House Press Corps, where bitty flexible displays come online, ity of seeing a personal announce- I’ve spoken to people and they say that you can actually roll up. If ment in the near future of sup- they know they’re being lied to, those start becoming integrated porting one activity out there. . . but they can’t say it. I don’t know into cell phones, that’s going to How Craigslist Built a Sense of why, but maybe that’s the illusion change the news business some- Community. . . And What News- of objectivity. . . how, and that kind of thing may papers Can Learn Using Technology to Post the catch us all by surprise. Q: Craig, what can you tell Most Trustworthy Version Questions from the audience: journalists, from your experience

‘...when any of us read stuff or listen to the news, we’re often looking for attitude, for point of view, something which isn’t just bland.’ — Craig Newmark

49 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio building Craigslist, about build- Q: Does the traditional practice ing a sense of community at their ‘Newspaper organizations of journalism as we have known papers? it—disinterested research, verifi- And Bill, what does the aver- could do what Craigslist cation, peer-reviewed—have any age reporter at your online WSJ place in the future of the news think regarding building commu- does, which is to let media? All I’ve heard about to- nity/trust online? What does your night is talk about content, tech- newsroom think about citizen people write their own nology, the like. I’m feeling a little journalism? confused. Craig Newmark: Without trying classified ads online. And David Gyimah: . . . There are to, we feel we’ve built a culture of they would find that the people who are finding new ways, trust and goodwill—a lot of it has new discourses, getting in touch to do with turning over control of cost of a classifed ad with communities, and there’s a our site, for the most part, to the rearguard battle from big insti- people who use it. . . a lot of it has would be substantially tutions who can see them be- been through the obvious attitude ing shipped away and are either that we have when it matters. reduced. ’— Chris Nolan beginning to re-evaluate in the For example, a lot of people have way they teach or are going back noticed that when something bad to basics. . . that’s exactly what the happens—there are some bad nice guy! BBC’s up to. The BBC, after the guys out there—we get real pas- Bill Grueskin:. . . first of all, most Hutton inquiry and the weapons sionate about the Bill of Rights reporters wouldn’t even know of mass destruction, has gone kind of issues. And again, we just what you’re talking about, citizen back to basics, big time. In other try to turn over more and more journalism. . . . One of the things words, we will not print a story power and control over to people I’ve wondered about is whether until we evaluate and get a third and to provide, oh, unthinkable the collective wisdom of citizens source and get a fifth source. . . to levels of customer service. There’s can be utilized to do journalism. . them, it’s all good journalism. . . a lot more to it, but that’s the gist. .part of it is, somehow, capturing . As far as the BBC goes, there’s a Jay Rosen: What if, to produce the energy and wit and wisdom very defined way of doing things, more trust online, newspaper or- of the people in your town in a and [they say] if you guys want ganizations were required to turn way that is a benefit to everybody. to go off and build communities, over more control to users? Newspapers could do it right now, that’s great—we’ve got our way, Chris Nolan: Newspaper orga- and if they don’t, then Craig will and that’s the standard way. nizations could do what Craigslist do it in a couple of years. Jay Rosen: I believe there’s defi- does, which is to let people write Jay Rosen: There are start-ups nitely a future for verified, reliable their own classified ads online. based on this premise. . . Back- information. It’s always going to And they would find that the cost Fence.com is the most well- be important to a certain group of of a classified ad would be sub- known; there are others who are people, especially those who can stantially reduced. trying to get to that level of infor- pay for it. Journalism that existed There’s no magic to what this mation. . . in that way, before there was any guy has done. I know you guys are Where Does Traditional Jour- mass press, will go on. There’s al- all scared of him, but he’s a really nalism Stand? ways going to be people who need

50 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio deal, and I’d like to see a lot more of FactCheck. Putting the Trends in Context Chris Nolan: One of the prob- lems with the conversation we’re having now about the news busi- ness and what’s going on online is that there’s almost too much to talk about. And that people are getting their trends confused. There’s a bad economic trend in the newspaper and big media business. There’s an explosion of interest in what’s going on online. Many of these things are coming together, and the side effects and Bill Grueskin gestures during a panel discussion at the conference. the ripple effects are uncomfort- Photos by Wendi Poole able for people who have been used to doing things a certain reliable, verifiable information but also just people in the public way. That has a lot to do with the to trade with, to make important who know stuff—that kind of stuff way the Internet is affecting all of decisions with. Those people will is being evolved and built now, us. So, when you start to think get it. and that’s a big deal. If you get about what the future of journal- It’s whether there’s going to be hold of Fabrice over there [Fabrice ism is, maybe it’s worth looking that kind of verifiable, reliable Florin, NewsTrust] he can address back and thinking about how information available to the larger a particular effort going on. There much has changed in terms of public—that is what is in doubt. are others. I’ve even spoken to the how we’ve used technology in And I don’t think that that’s in any guys at FactCheck.org about how the past ten years. . . if you think sense guaranteed. We don’t know. they expand their mission. That’s about that in relation to the Craig Newmark: The whole idea not to be confused with Fact- news business, I find it helps me of having systems which allow Check.com. . . these mechanisms drop these arguments into place both professional fact-checkers are evolving, they are a really big a bit more cogently.

‘It’s whether there’s going to be that kind of verifiable, reliable information available to the larger public – that is what is in doubt.’ — Jay Rosen

51 A Wake-Up Call: Can Trust and Quality Save Journalism?• The Wake-Up Call Conference • Aug. 9, 2005 • San Antonio