Ch.

16: Transparency in Journalism: Meanings, Merits,

and Risks
Public trust in the media is vital for the job of journalists to work .Transparency has been
readily embraced as a means of increasing this often tested public trust. It is worth noting
however that calls for transparency in journalism are part of a global trend for
transparency among other institutions such as corporate financial reporting, monetary
policy and international politics. The media are often the voice which calls for
accountability among other institutions so it would be hypocritical if we did not apply the
same standards to ourselves.

What needs to be transp. and how should it be done?

In the chapter the author discusses two schools of thinking as to how transparency should
be achieved. That of the ACTIVE and PASSIVE transparency. Passive transparency is
that which exists in business whereby openness is achieved by ease of access to
documents and reports and the like. Active transparency is where an organisation on its
own bat explains the various decisions it takes. In my opinion, the second option seems
the more productive for several reasons. The first being is that by definition our
profession is one where we seek to broadcast information to the public, it would not make
sense if we did not go out and report on ourselves in a similar fashion. I also believe that
if a request is made by the for the reasoning behind the motive or reporting of a story it is
a natural reaction to go on the defensive and the truth may not be totally forthcoming.

There have been several recommendations as to how it is to be achieved. In 2005 an

American report into transp. in the industry gave several suggestions into how it can be
achieved.

Recommendations included virtual newsroom tours on news organisation websites,

weekly editors columns review and correction policies that go beyond a standard
correction box. One idea which I thought sounded very open was that of a daily blog by
the editor explaining the decisions he faced.

Of course in online news there is even greater scope for transparency. We have talked
previously about hyper linking to research material and its ability to not only increase a
reader’s knowledge of the content but their trust in its accuracy and authenticity. Bloggers
have always been some of the fiercest critics of the mainstream media’s lack of
transparency. As Jane Singer concluded: “ What truth is to journalists, transparency is to
bloggers.”

Increased transparency through these methods could also be counterproductive and lead
to confusion among readers. The job of a journalist has always to bring clarity to
complexities and this could be impossible to achieve if they are constantly explaining
their motives and methods.
There is also possibly a more dangerous outcome to being too transparent as Ann Florini
explained when she said that, “In a cynical view, if you really want to hide information,
the best thing to do is to bury it in a flow of data”.

Perhaps then best way then to increase transparency isn’t to give readers access to all the
information. But what is the alternative? In their book “The Elements of Journalism”
Kovach and Rosenstiel called for “embedding in the news report a sense of how the story
came to be and why it was presented as it was”. Although this sounds like the perfect
solution it could be difficult in practice.
For example the recent controversy over RTÉ’s coverage of the Brian Cowen paintings
could serve as an example. Much of the trouble centered on the light-hearted tone of the
report. It would have been difficult to incorporate into a story exactly why it was covered
that why. Although the comedy value of the material itself should suffice to explain the
coverage. This I feel it what Kovach and Rosenstiel meant.

Another question that is difficult to answer is being transparent in relation to the motives
behind pursuing a particular story. One example given is the chapter is the inclusion of an
editor’s note accompanying the story, but again it could lead to the page becoming too
wordy. Perhaps even it may be difficult to explain if the motive behind the story was
simply that the reporter had a hunch.

In the future it is clear that with greater competition and amateur bloggers acting as a
check on the mainstream media greater transparency is not just inevitable but vital. It
must be said however that there is no place for transparency if it simply means a greater
access and interactivity by the public. It is difficult to quantify the level of activity
necessary for something to be considered transparent enough. It is only if transparency
forces journalist to think more about what they report and the manner in which they
report it will it add to how journalism is practiced.