Despite a devastating blow to journalism post-election, this has been an inspiring opportunity for us to have humility, listen better to our audiences better, and take a stand for our audiences and our work. We, with our audiences, are taking steps towards reversing the normalization of a toxic public discourse. Case in point: #MeToo.
The #MeToo movement has been for me an unexpected, most perfect, and poignant nexus of high-quality journalism and the public discourse, namely on social media. Powerful, compelling investigative reporting culminated in (and worked in tandem with) the shifting of a longstanding public narrative inclined to shame survivors and cover for perpetrators. As an industry, we’ve also been reckoning with the ways in which our own culture has perpetuated misogynistic, abusive behavior.
It’s powerful when journalists and news organizations aren’t afraid to take a stand: reminding the public that we are on their side, and we won’t compromise the truth by refusing to shine a light on our own skeletons. We do it by listening with integrity and vigilantly seeking the truth. We do it by acknowledging that our platforms are tools of power and admit how our very own used them as weapons against the vulnerable.
This is where repairing trust between communities and news organizations begins.
In 2018, I expect news organizations and audiences to remember these lessons and get brave again on how we do our work together:
— We’ll stop using objectivity as an excuse for a weak and lazy narrative and step forcefully into giving voice to those who are perpetually harmed and ignored. We’ll be brutally fair and speak up, especially against bullies. We’ll recognize and uplift courage when we see it.
— We’re going to get smarter about working with social media platforms to get in front of what we do best — telling stories well and truthfully — and know that this is the first step to a long-sustaining relationship with our communities.
— We’ll self-reflect and be confident enough to admit our own mistakes and failings. And we’ll do better.
2018 will be the year journalism gets its swagger again in the face of an anti-media administration and an audience feeling the pain of this toxic public conversation. I still bet on humanity, and I have already seen strong signs of journalism’s role in restoring my faith in humanity this past year.
Jennifer Choi is associate director for strategic partnerships at the News Integrity Initiative.
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Claire Wardle Disinformation gets worse
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Millie Tran and Stine Bauer Dahlberg (Hint: It’s about your brand)
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Sam Sanders Shine the light on ourselves
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Joanne Lipman Journalists inventing revenue streams
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Gordon Crovitz Serving readers over advertisers
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Jassim Ahmad Thriving on change
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Mi-Ai Parrish Blockchain and trust
Tanya Cordrey Finally, the seeds of radical reinvention
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Charo Henríquez Training is an investment, not an expense
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Daniel Trielli The rich get richer, the poor scramble
Tim Carmody Watch out for Spotify
Vivian Schiller Pivot to tomorrow
Alice Antheaume Are you fluent in AI?
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Basile Simon We need better career paths for news nerds
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Craig Newmark Working together toward sustainable solutions
Nicholas Diakopoulos Fortifying social media from automated inauthenticity
Feli Sánchez The year for guerrilla user research
Kim Fox Audience teams diversify their approach
Amy King Let’s amplify visual voice
Ray Soto VR reaches the next level
Andrew Losowsky The year of resilience
Ståle Grut Reclaiming audience interaction from social networks
Rick Berke Value is the watchword
Emma Carew Grovum Newsroom culture becomes a priority
Federica Cherubini The rise of bridge roles in news organizations
Steve Grove The midterms are an opportunity
Jessica Parker Gilbert Design connects storytelling and strategy
Matt Boggie The intellectual equivalent of the Dead Sea
Bill Keller A growing turn to philanthropy
Corey Johnson The pro-fact resistance
Pete Brown Push alerts, personalized
Amie Ferris-Rotman More female reporters abroad (please)
Nicholas Quah Stop talking trash about young people
Rodney Gibbs Tech workers turn to journalism
Manoush Zomorodi Self-help as a publishing strategy
Andrew Ramsammy The year ownership mattered
Trushar Barot The Jio-fication of India
Pia Frey Address users as individuals
Hannah Cassius The year of the echo-chamber escapists
Sydette Harry Listen to your corner and watch for the hook
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Carlos Martínez de la Serna The new journalism commons
Corey Ford The empire strikes back
Valérie Bélair-Gagnon Seeking trust in fragmented spaces
Nikki Usher The year of The Washington Post
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Eric Nuzum Beyond the narrative arc
Renée Kaplan The year of quiet adjustments (shhh)
Sam Ford The year of investing in processes
Luke O'Neil The end is already here
Sarah Marshall Loyalty as the key performance indicator
Julia Beizer A longer view on the pivot
Evie Nagy Pivot to mobile video frustration
Juliette De Maeyer A responsible press criticism
Debra Adams Simmons And a woman shall lead them
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Miguel Castro The arrival of the impact producer
Niketa Patel Live journalism comes of age
Andrew Haeg The year journalists become relationship builders
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C.W. Anderson The social media apocalypse
Laura E. Davis Writing answers before you know the question
Kathleen McElroy Building a news video experience native to mobile
Brian Lam Sketchy ethics around product reviews
Mira Lowe The year of the local watchdog
Mary Walter-Brown Show a little vulnerability
Lam Thuy Vo Breaking free from the tyranny of the loudest
Alan Soon The rise of start of psychographic, micro-targeted media
Jim Moroney Newspapers have to be good enough for readers to pay for
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Christopher Meighan Passive partnership is in the rearview
Mariana Moura Santos Think local, act global
Michelle Garcia Navigating journalistic transparency
Alfred Hermida Going beyond mobile-first
Lanre Akinola Making noise is not a strategy
Elizabeth Jensen Show your work
Taylor Lorenz Social and media will split
Juleyka Lantigua Women of color will reclaim and monetize our time
An Xiao Mina Memes and visuals come to the fore
Umbreen Bhatti The trust problem isn’t new
Eric Ulken The year local publishers get smart(er) about change
Michelle Ferrier The year of the great reckoning
José Zamora Revenue-first journalism
Mike Caulfield Refactoring media literacy for the networked age
Aron Pilhofer We can’t leave the business to the business side any more
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Francesco Marconi The year of machine-to-machine journalism
Edward Roussel Eyes, ears, and brains
Caitlin Thompson Podcasting models mature and diversify
Imaeyen Ibanga Longform video leads the way
Alexios Mantzarlis Moving fake news research out of the lab
Vanessa K. DeLuca Women’s voices take center stage
Zizi Papacharissi Women come back
Jennifer Choi Standing up for us and for each other
Doris Truong Computer vision vs. the Internet vigilantes
Cory Haik Suffering from realness, pivoting to impact
Julia B. Chan Looking for loyalty in all the right places
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