Last Updated: May 26, 1999
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An open letter to ASNE’s members
Taking bold steps to regain credibility
Dear ASNE member,
Usually in this space, The American Editor has a note from the ASNE
president. We vary that somewhat this time to report to you on a subject
of great importance to all four ASNE officers and, we believe, to you.
In his convention address to the membership, Bob Giles talked about
the perceived problems of fairness in media and the resulting decline of
public trust as indicated by polls, evidenced by recent jury verdicts and
commented upon by every media critic with a microphone or a pen.
In her remarks at the close of the convention, Sandy Rowe cited the
various journalism organizations and foundations that are planning significant
initiatives on credibility and proposed that ASNE take the leadership role
in an industry-wide discussion and the development of strategies to reverse
this trend. The ASNE board and officers have backed her in this proposal.
As a first step, your officers met with the heads of the Newspaper Association
of America (NAA) and representatives of leading journalism-related foundations
in Chicago on April 29. We offered to have ASNE serve as a coordinator
or clearinghouse for an industry-wide effort.
Although the details have yet to be ironed out, the response was positive
and encouraging. An ASNE-led campaign to arrest the decline in credibility
would coincide with NAA’s plans to launch a multi-year promotional campaign
to educate citizens about newspapers, and with The Freedom Forum’s plans
for a
$1 million program to engage the reading public in examining issues
of fairness and credibility in broadcast and print media. The Knight Foundation
has a strong continuing interest in the public’s perception of newspapers.
Additionally, the Pew Charitable Trusts next month will consider funding
the "Project for Excellence in Journalism," directed by Tom Rosenstiel
that is aimed at defining solutions and examining standards for all media.
ASNE’s own project on credibility flows from its previous work on journalism
values with the McCormick Tribune Foundation.
We expect to start our effort by having a committee of experts analyze
all existing data on credibility. Then we would field additional research
to help us understand the "why" behind the numbers and to differentiate
more among the various media.
We plan to gather industry leaders — both ASNE members and the leaders
of related organizations — at various times during the project to discuss
the survey results and possible strategies for improvement. These discussions,
as well as our other work on the subject, will be grounded in our journalistic
values, standards and practices. We launch this significant work believing
there is no quick fix or single solution and we are wary of anyone who
asserts otherwise.
ASNE’s effort will spotlight at least six newspaper sites where the
concepts and principles deemed most tied to credibility will be reinforced
in the newspaper and tested among readers. Finally, the ASNE convention
program in 1998 will recap the first year of this effort and bring the
discussion to the membership, possibly via a professionally produced Socratic
dialogue.
Then, it’s on to year two of our effort.
As you can see, this is an extraordinarily ambitious effort for ASNE.
Beyond the scope of the problem, it is significant for several additional
reasons.
First, the multi-year approach would be a departure from past practice
for ASNE, which historically has tied research and professional initiatives
to the one-year terms of our presidents. All four of us are dedicated to
leading this effort during our tenures on the ASNE officers’ ladder. This
gives ASNE a longer-term focus that could greatly strengthen our organization
and improve our results.
Second, it is rare for ASNE to reach outside of itself and suggest it
is the appropriate coordinator of an effort in which numerous organizations,
all quite successful at functioning independently, have their oars in the
water together. That in itself is risky business but we think it is important
that we try to work together rather than duplicate efforts. Other organizations
we have contacted agree and have encouraged us. We are committed to work
to broaden industry involvement in any initiative we undertake involving
credibility.
Third, to further underscore its importance, most of the 16 ASNE committees
have credibility as a primary focus of their work this year. The Ethics
and Values Committee, led by Max King of the Philadelphia Inquirer, has
this effort on credibility as its sole focus.
As always, we invite your counsel and thoughts. Our intent is to equip
America’s editors, and your newspapers, with the knowledge and information
necessary to reverse a trend that threatens our industry and the unique
role of the press in our society.
Thank you,
Sandy Rowe, president
Edward Seaton, vice president
Chris Anderson, secretary
Rich Oppel, treasurer
