As readers, we want to trust the authors we read, especially if we are turning to them to gather important news. And also as readers, it’s important that we are able to recognize what is and isn’t accurate. In today’s age of technology, journalists have a difficult task of providing truthful news in an original and interesting way. News is accessible everywhere for everyone. Within a matter of seconds, the world has access to valuable and influential information. As a result, journalists are challenged with presenting relevant yet appealing writing. Often times, this leads to the false creation of facts and therefore, the misleading of audiences. Therefore, it is important as writers, to be aware of how to write in a trustworthy manner and as readers, how to trust your news sources.
- Adding material, or inventing things that are not true to amplify a story is never right. In writing, especially journalism, it is important to distinguish between fact and fiction. Journalism, according to Bill Kovach & Tom Rosenstiel’s The Elements of Journalism is “focused first on getting what happened down right.” And by getting “what happened down right,” audiences want the cold, hard truth. Fooling or deceiving your audience only falls away from the goal of journalism: truth. This may often be found when journalists re-vamp quotations or reconstruct events that were not first-handedly witnessed. While some of these factors may appear slight and too little to matter in the scheme of things, imagine if readers were to discover a journalist was not being fully honest about a little detail? Would the readers be able to trust the journalist to provide true accounts?
- Being original wins the game. Often times, journalists who conduct their own work and are careful about it and their sources are generally the most successful. Journalists who worry about presenting a certain view or providing various information from a variety of sources simply spread themselves too thin and as a result, are less likely to provide concrete, trustworthy information. Writers who go about gathering their own information and stay grounded in their own work often times provide the best, most accurate and trustworthy writing.
- There is always a healthy degree of humility. While journalists should be confident in what they are saying, they are not expected to be all-knowing. They gather information from witnesses and sources, and they should not be afraid to further question or not have the answers. It is always better to ask then make a mistake, falsify information or mislead audiences. This humility connects readers and writers and puts writers on a more relatable level. If writers are paranoid about being humble, they are more prone to making slight misinterpretations or errors that could lead to false writings or the loss in the trust of their audiences.
- Approach all writing with “Skeptical Editing.” This approach breaks down a story line by line, editing both the declarations and facts. When examining their writings, writers should ask themselves questions such as, “How do we know this?” and “Why should readers believe this?” In a sense, writers should place themselves in the shoes of readers and therefore, remove the unconscious errors. Unless information can be clearly proven, it is better to have less but true, verifiable information than a lot of confusing text that cannot easily be confirmed.
By sticking to truthful, verifiable facts, writers are more likely to provide honest and factual information. Originality and humility allow writers to hone their facts, and “Skeptical Editing” connects writers with their audiences by placing themselves in their readers’ shoes. If writers are aware of the situations where misleading readers may occur and readers are well-versed in what designates trustworthy writers, there will be a greater connection between the writing and reading communities. As a result, readers will have a greater sense of trust when it comes to obtaining news.
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