Do you, and should you trust the news, especially now? Do you prefer watching Fox over CNN and does it really matter?
As we continue to suffer from Covid fatigue, we now find ourselves further divided by politics, with new details emerging about global news funding and biased reporting. Is there any reason to believe what the media is telling us? In other words, can the media be trusted?
Applying Trust Across America-Trust Around the World’s (TAA-TAW) universal trust principles called TAP reveals some unsettling observations and results.
Take a minute to Answer “Yes” or “No” to each of these questions:
Truth– Does truthful media reporting come before a hidden agenda or monetary gain?
Accountability– Is the media holding itself accountable and taking responsibility regardless of affiliation?
Purpose– Is the media engaging others in building shared purpose to avoid short-term wins?
Integrity– Is the media committed to accuracy in pursuit of the facts?
Notice- Is the media seeking out, listening to and reporting on diverse perspectives?
Talent– Is the media rewarding moral character?
Openness– Is the media open and ready to learn?
Transparency– Is the media rejecting hidden agendas?
Respect– Is the media respectful of each other?
Understanding– Does the media celebrate its successes and also report on its failures?
Safety- Does the media call out all unethical behavior and make it safe to be honest?
Tracking– Does the media scorecard their performance against their values?
What was your “Yes” and “No” answer count?
Can you think of any news media that would score a passing grade of 60% or more?
Can the media be trusted to report the news without bias?
And before you finish reading, substitute the word “media” for “government” or “business” and see if the results change.
Barbara Brooks Kimmel is an author, speaker, product developer and global subject matter expert on trust and trustworthiness. Founder of Trust Across America-Trust Around the World she is author of the award-winning Trust Inc., Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset, Trust Inc., 52 Weeks of Activities and Inspirations for Building Workplace Trust and Trust Inc., a Guide for Boards & C-Suites. She majored in International Affairs (Lafayette College), and has an MBA (Baruch- City University of NY). Her expertise on trust has been cited in Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, Thomson Reuters, BBC Radio, The Conference Board, Global Finance Magazine, Bank Director and Forbes, among others.
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