Title: Journalism needs to practice transparency in a different way to rebuild credibility
Headings: Journalism needs to practice transparency in a different way to rebuild credibility
Journalism needs to practice transparency in a different way to rebuild credibility
What does transparency look like now?
Where transparency falls short
Competence, integrity, benevolence
How not to do transparency
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Content: It was an attempt to bring transparency to CNN’s actions. But CNN executives would not speak for attribution with Stelter to defend the hiring, instead preferring to provide anonymous responses. So, while Stelter attempted to tell the “story behind the story,” he was rebuffed by his own network. This was confusing for audiences trying to understand Flores’ hiring as a political editor. If CNN had accepted a definition and practice of transparency that included accuracy, disclosure and clarity, perhaps they could have given better thought to how this hire would be perceived and how they might publicly comment on it. In the end, Flores announced that she will be a political analyst instead of an editor – a change in title she, not CNN, initiated. When an important concept like transparency is only partially applied, it leads to something of a transparency trap. Media organizations may believe they are acting transparently, but incomplete attempts at transparency may damage credibility and thus do more harm than good. Journalism
Disclosure
Transparency
Journalism ethics
CNN
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