Trust: How Can the Media Gain Our Trust Back?

How Can the Media Gain Our Trust Back?

The election of 2016 certainly has made the "elephant in the room" visible to everyone. What am I talking about? Bias in the media, of course.

Since the word "deplorable" seems to have become a popular term, I think it is deplorable how journalistic integrity has been thrown out the window in favor of agendas. What happened to reporting the facts and letting the listeners or readers come to their own conclusions about the facts? Since when does journalistic integrity mean reporting only the facts that align with your agenda?

While Christian journalists point fingers at major news networks like CNN and NBC, or newspapers like The New York Times and Washington Post, I have to say that Fox News is not innocent, either. Although Fox's bias somewhat balances the biases of liberal news networks, Fox still screams its bias loud and clear -- always has.

Now that all masks are off, how can the American public ever trust the news again? How can we pick up a newspaper, log onto a website, or turn on the TV, and be fairly certain that what we are getting is the whole story?

It's up to us as journalists, especially as Christian journalists, to go back to the roots of good journalism. Going back to the very first post I wrote for this blog, we have to look at what journalistic integrity "looks like." It means the facts are right and the reporting is balanced. It means quoting accurately and within context, checking the factuality of comments made by sources, interviewing people on both sides of an issue, etc.

Can this be done without letting our biases show? Absolutely.

I once did an article on a peaceful protest outside a local Planned Parenthood location. I interviewed the church members protesting and got their backstory and reasons. After the interview, I let them know that, although I agreed with them 100 percent, I had to talk with Planned Parenthood and write a balanced story.

When I interviewed the director of that particular Planned Parenthood location, the way he spoke indicated that he assumed, because I was a woman and a newspaper editor, that I was on his side. I didn't say that I was or wasn't; I just got his backstory and reasons.

Then I sat down to write the article.

I was respectful to both sides, using the terms they preferred -- Pro-Life and Pro-Choice -- and told the story of each side. I tried to be as objective as I could be.

When the paper went to print, I sat back and waited for the backlash. After all, abortion was and still is a hot button issue.

What I got was a call from both sides thanking me for the balanced story.

Is it possible for the media to report totally without bias? No. The media is made up of human beings, and each human being has his or her own bias.

However, the media can take steps to keep bias to a minimum. That means no right-bashing from CNN and the Times, and no left-bashing from Fox. That means choosing what to cover based on newsworthiness, not agendas. That means giving the public the facts and letting them come to their own conclusions.

That's the only way the public will ever be able to trust again. And I'm afraid it's going to take a long time for the media to gain that trust back.