Readers Prefer Transparency, Solutions and Engagement-fueled Journalism

Research consistently shows that transparency, meaningful engagement and solutions reporting are strongly preferred by the public and across demographic lines. But on the whole, the public’s desire for these approaches still dwarfs its access to them. We helped bring all of those approaches together as part of Advancing Democracy, a multiyear (and still ongoing) effort to apply them widely to coverage of civic life led by Hearken, Trusting News and SJN.

Researchers Sue Robinson and Joshua Darr, along with a coterie of students, dug into Advancing Democracy and found that not only did it help newsrooms build more constructive practices, but people broadly preferred these practices. A solutions framing without biased calls to action was “chosen repeatedly” over problem stories; people were excited by editor’s notes and engagement; polarizing language was “rejected consistently."