December 07, 2010
Transparency for journalists: AllThingsD shows what it can look like
Is transparency the new objectivity? Many journalists, most recently “Newsosaur” Allan D. Mutter, think so—or more specifically, that “objectivity” never existed, but transparency is doable. But what might journalistic transparency actually look like? How much about their lives, their finances, and their beliefs should journalists disclose—and where should they present this context?
All Things Digital (a tech news and opinion site operated by Dow Jones) offers a pretty good example of such disclosure. Check out its ethics statements for individual contributors…
By Amy Gahran
Each AllThingsD writer (plus a few other staffers) has penned his or her own ethics statement. There, they attempt to clarify issues that people might raise regarding their personal ethics or biases. AllThingsD makes these statements easy to find, via each contributor’s section of the site, or via their respective “about” pages.
What I like about these statements is that they aren’t cookie-cutter corpspeak or legalese. They’re human—and even humorous—revelations. Each writer gets to decide which topics she or he wants to cover, and how. This can get pretty personal, and that’s a good thing.
For example, check out the ethics statements of the site’s co-executive editor Kara Swisher. Like many of the site’s ethics statements, it begins with this preamble: “Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.”
Swiftly, this statement veers into controversial personal territory. Swisher writes:
“Let’s begin with a critical piece of information every reader of this site needs to know about me: My spouse, Megan Smith, has been an executive at search giant Google since 2003, where she is vice president of new business development. More recently, she also added the job of general manager of the company’s philanthropic arm, Google.org. (Yes, Megan works too much, but so do I.)“Obviously, a substantial amount of her income from Google is in shares and options, some of which she has sold and some of which she still holds. Megan makes all her own decisions related to these shares and options, and I do not own or have future rights to own or control any of them. In addition, Megan still holds a number of shares and options (none of which I own, have future rights to own or control) in PlanetOut, where she served as CEO before she moved to Google.
“And, in the interest of full disclosure, I was obviously not a supporter of Proposition 8, the California initiative that passed on November 4, 2008, that eliminated a law that had allowed same-sex couples to marry and amended the state constitution to only allow a man and a woman to marry. In any case and because I like deadlines, in the hours before it passed, I got married to Megan at San Francisco’s City Hall under that recent same-sex marriage law, which the initiative has now overturned. It is still legally unclear what that will mean for people like me who married before Proposition 8 was passed, as it is not retroactive; as of now, the marriages made before it was passed remain valid. That could, of course, change. And, it is likely I will keep marrying until it finally and inevitably sticks.
“...I urge you to make any comments you might have about my relationship with Megan on this site, especially if you think it is impacting my work adversely, as long as they remain civil and do not contain attacks related to my sexual orientation, which will simply not be tolerated and will be removed immediately. But please feel free to challenge me for my thoughts on all things digital, a topic about which I certainly always welcome a lively debate.”
When journalists ponder how to be transparent, often they express concern about disclosing information about their political beliefs, personal lives (their own or those of family members), and other hot potatoes in the context of our increasingly polarized culture. Swisher’s ethics statement shows that a journalist can not merely disclose such sensitive information, but lead with it. Showing you have nothing to hide is one way to bolster personal and professional credibility.
This is especially a good idea if you’re concerned that things which are common knowledge among people who know you (what your spouse or child does for a living, what your core values are, etc.) might be misinterpreted out of context. When you take the lead by “outing” yourself to your audience, you create powerful context for potentially controversial information. Others are still free to draw their own conclusions (they always will), but your perspective will be at least as findable as theirs. And ideally it will be out there first—not as a reaction to publicly raised questions, which can look defensive.
Swisher’s ethics statement also explains the business arrangement through which she works for AllThingsD: “[Co-executive editor] Walt Mossberg and I have established a small limited liability company whose purpose is to manage payments to the independent contractors, including me, who work on the All Things Digital Web site, and to buy equipment and other services for the site. The site itself is owned by Dow Jones, for which I work as an independent contractor.”
And she covers more standard fare for journalism ethics, too. For example:
“I don’t accept any money, or anything else of value, from the companies I cover, or from their public relations or advertising agencies....I have investments in several group funds, which are managed without my input primarily by an investment bank, and they might from time to time put my money into funds that buy shares of stock in the companies I write about.
...I never coordinate my work with our advertising sales staff.”
Like most of the site’s ethics statements, Swisher concludes with this bit of boilerplate: “Beyond the issues discussed here, I also abide by the Dow Jones Code of Conduct.”
What can other news organizations and independent journalists learn from the AllThingsD approach to transparency?
- Publish your key disclosures in one place. By publishing the ethics statements as static pages, they’re not only easier for readers to find—they’re easier for search engines to index and rank. Transparency is not just about disclosure, but about visibility (which in the online age entails findability). If you dole out disclosures in dribs and drabs, buried within specific articles or posts, you’re less likely to gain the visibility needed to make transparency effective.
- Leave what to disclose up to the individual. The most effective transparency statements are personal, not cookie-cutter. Don’t require journalists to disclose information that they would prefer to keep private. But similarly, don’t prohibit them from sharing whatever personal information or context they wish to offer. Ultimately, these disclosures are about people, not organizations. Editors and managers can supply examples and encourage good judgment—but if a writer really thinks it’s important to let readers know that he votes Republican, vacations in Brazil, volunteers as an abortion clinic escort, loathes cilantro, or has a favorite Beatle, that’s his business.
- Make it easy for journalists to update their statements. Life goes on—which means life circumstances, current concerns, and personal views constantly evolve. New issues always come up, so a journalists’ transparency statement should be a living document that the journalist can modify at will. Make sure your content management system makes this easy. It’s not a good idea to edit this document daily (that could make you look obsessed with what others think), but it should be revisited at least annually or every few months.
How do you (or how does your news organization) handle personal transparency for journalists? What approaches have you seen or did you like/dislike? Please comment below and give links to examples.
Comments
I have read a lot of College essays concerning transparency for journalists, that’s why I’m really interested in them and something like this.
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