Conversations on Trust, Bias & Belonging in Media- Pt. 2, Building Trust in News: Principles for Journalists and Citizens
share
A Virtual Convening | 90 Minutes
Tuesday, September 23 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm
How do local news organizations earn and maintain the public’s trust in an era of deep skepticism toward the press? In this 90-minute interactive session, Rocky Mountain PBS and The Colorado Sun—both members of The Trust Project—join Sally Lehrman, founder of The Trust Project, to explore how transparency, accuracy, fairness, and multiple perspectives shape reliable journalism. Both organizations have gone through the rigorous process of becoming Trust Project partners, committing themselves to leading practices in accountability and news transparency.
We’ll trace the roots of The Trust Project’s guiding principles back to the 1947 Hutchins Commission, which outlined the commitments of a free and responsible press. Today, Trust Project News Partners uphold those commitments by displaying the 8 Trust Indicators, which include:
- Publishing news that is truthful, verified, and contextualized
- Providing forums for civil exchange and multiple viewpoints
- Reflecting diverse communities and voices
- Offering insight into funding, methods, and sourcing
- Ensuring fairness and accuracy, with prompt corrections
- Creating opportunities for public engagement
Together and individually, the 8 Trust Indicators show who and what is behind a news story so people can easily assess for themselves whether it comes from a reliable source.
And this work doesn’t stop with the newsroom. We’ll also ask: How might these same commitments—to transparency, accountability, and respectful dialogue—help us foster trust in our own relationships with family, friends, and neighbors?
Kyle Cooke is the news editor at Rocky Mountain PBS. He previously served as the newsroom's digital media manager. Kyle joined Rocky Mountain PBS in July of 2020. Prior to his move to Colorado, Kyle lived in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was an assignment editor and multimedia producer for WSMV. His journalism has been recognized by the Colorado Broadcasters Association, The Society of Professional Journalists and the Heartland Emmy Awards.
Sally Lehrman founded and leads the Trust Project. For ten years, the nonpartisan Trust Project has been a trailblazer in strengthening integrity and transparency in news, enabling an informed public to engage more fully in civic life. Lehrman guides Trust Project operations, trains news leaders to build trust, and is a sought-after speaker. Lehrman’s award-winning journalism on medicine/science has garnered a Peabody, duPont-Columbia, John S. Knight Fellowship & recognition for diversity work, with bylines in Scientific American, Nature, Health, among others, and several public radio documentary series distributed by NPR. She was awarded a Gold Globee as Female Achiever/Communicator of the Year and named one of MediaShift's Top 20 Digital Innovators.
Dana Coffield is a founder and editor in chief of The Colorado Sun, a newly nonprofit, statewide news organization. Her career has included work at some of the smallest publications in Colorado and the largest, including the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, where she shared the 2013 Pulitzer prize for breaking news.