The Wake

“I believe democracy requires ‘a sacred contract’ between journalists and those who put their trust in us to tell them what we can about how the world really works,” says long- time journalist Bill Moyers, addressing colleagues. These words resonated with many American journalists who are faced with a public that no longer places its trust in the media.

I can’t say that I blame the public for turning off the evening news or canceling their newspaper subscriptions. Has the media really proven they even deserve our trust lately?

We read The New York Times, the most trusted paper in the United States until we found out that one of its up and coming reporters, Jayson Blair, had lied in many of his stories. His front-page reports contained fabricated quotes, exaggerated truths and many outright lies. There had been other liars before Blair- Stephen Glass of The New Republic and Janet Cooke from The Washington Post. But the Blair situation was the last straw for many “media consumers.” If we can’t even trust The New York Times to print the truth, how can we trust any media institution?

Like Moyers says, our democracy, our whole nation, depends on a healthy relationship between the media and the public. We trust that journalists will tell the truth — that they will report the information we need to make informed political and life decisions. But, journalists also depend on us, the people.

We have a responsibility to alert the media when there is an urgent subject that needs coverage or when mistakes are made. This ensures that the media and the public continue to exist in a symbiotic relationship. Right here in the Twin Cities, there is a group who recognizes that. The Minnesota News Council is fully dedicated to facilitating conversations between the public and the press. Members of the GLBT community recently came to the News Council because they felt as if the local media did not know how to address their community and the important issues affecting them. The News Council created a forum where members of the media and the GLBT community gathered to engage in a conversation and discuss these issues. Each group left with a better understanding of each other, and as a result, their relationship is now stronger. At a recent News Council forum, former gubernatorial candidate, Tim Penny, asked the press why they make political polls so difficult to understand. Penny noted that local papers did not include or explain margins of error and that polls were often visually difficult to understand. The next time the Star Tribune published a political poll; they included and explained the margin of error and illustrated the poll with graphics that all could understand. The editor also included a written explanation of the changes the Star Tribune had made to their polls.

I strongly believe in the collaborative relationship between the press and the people. I work for the News Council. I see both sides of this relationship–the good and the bad –- on a daily basis. Just as the News Council does, I hope to create a conversation in our community between the press and the people. I will look at issues that come up in our student publications and in the local media. I hope to address media ethics dilemmas when they arise. Ultimately these conversations can bring about changes, trust me.

Sarah Bauer is a staff writer for The Wake and submits fortnightly editorial pieces concerning local media issues. She welcomes comments at office@wakenews.org.