Wanda Garner Cash
Random Thoughts
TPA President's Column

Not surprisingly, a couple of recent surveys reflect what seems to be an entrenched anti-media sentiment across America.

Admittedly, the last couple of years have not been among the media’s finest. Charges of plagiarism, falsification, sensationalizing, lying and pandering were leveled and proved against newspapers, television and radio stations across the nation.

Depending how you look at it, the public’s perspective of the media is good news-bad news. This year’s Gallup Poll ranking various professions according to honesty and ethics had us newspaper types finishing above congressmen, lawyers and car salesmen. The bad news: newspaper reporters are less respected than TV reporters — and auto mechanics.

A previous Gallup survey in September showed that just 44 percent of Americans express confidence in the media’s ability to report news stories accurately and fairly. An analysis in Editor & Publisher called the survey “particularly striking because this figure had previously been very stable — fluctuating only between 51% and 55% from 1997-2003.”  Additionally, 39 percent said they have “not very much” confidence in the media’s accuracy and fairness, while 16% said they have “none at all.”

To put the September survey in context, you should know it was taken during the flap about President Bush’s National Guard duty and revelations that Dan Rather based his coverage on questionable documents.

Blaming Dan and all the other high profile journalists might seem like an easy way for community newspapers to distance themselves from the current credibility crisis. Truth be told, none of us is blameless when it comes losing public confidence.

Sometimes reader disgust stems from a range of errors, from substantive inaccuracies or omissions to embarrassing mistakes that kill a newspaper’s credibility with a thousand tiny cuts. Loyal readers might forgive such careless inattention to detail, writing the sloppiness off to the hometown paper’s staff size or experience. But even loyal readers bleed away after too many mistakes ruin the clippings for the family scrapbook.

Sometimes my own publication disappoints me by not reaching our readers’ expectations. But even then my reaction, probably like yours, comes from a different perspecitve than a news source might have.

I believe newspapers have to broaden our perspective if we hope to regain the trust and confidence of our public. As my old pal Doug Toney used to preach to new reporters in the Galveston newsroom: Train yourselves to think like a reader.

This hit home recently when I had poor journalism inflicted upon me owing to my role within the community. Being a (reluctant) newsmaker is not a role I seek or enjoy. But it can be educational.

When those circumstances conspired to put me on the other side of the reporter’s notebook, it helped me understand why more than half of America lacks confidence in the media’s ability for fair and accurate reporting.

At issue was a story in a metro daily describing my role and questioning my ethics in an economic development project involving Wal-Mart. The reporter spelled my name right, but he never called me to verify any information or to seek balancing comment.

My reaction arose from two perspectives.

As a source, a newsmaker, I was angry to be inaccurately and unfairly maligned. As a publisher, I was dumbfounded that shoddy work made it into print at one of the state’s biggest papers.

Combining those perspectives allowed me to use my personal experience as a coachable opportunity in my own newsroom.

Good journalism starts with us, as part of a community newspaper’s responsibility for training young reporters.

We’ve got to teach them that poor reporting is never acceptable, at The Baytown Sun or The New York Times, whether your source is too far removed to make a fuss or on your bowling team and likely to cancel her subscription.

If we will approach the news from a reader’s perspective, our coverage is sure to improve. And the reader’s confidence should grow accordingly.