The Election Coverage Summit takes place on Thursday, October 10 at NAB Show New York. Massarah Mikati gives the inside scoop on the future of election reporting!

Add Improving Trust in Political Coverage to your myNAB Show New York Planner.

What are the biggest trends impacting how news organizations are managing how trust is being addressed with their audiences?

Over the past few years, we’ve seen an increase in efforts by news organizations to demonstrate transparency with their reporting process. That has included Q&As with reporters and fact-checkers discussing their journalistic ethics and values, open letters from newsroom leadership about editorial decisions and more community engagement. Seeing a rise in newsrooms exploring innovative approaches to trust-building with community members is certainly encouraging, and extremely needed as Americans across the political spectrum are becoming increasingly polarized, and skeptical of the media. However, trust-building has yet to be incorporated into widespread, standardized practice across our industry.

What challenges do new organizations need to overcome, because of these trends?

There is unfortunately still a great deal of resistance across our industry when it comes to shifting practices in ways that build trust with communities. That’s particularly true of building trust in communities of color, which have been and continue to be actively harmed by our industry since the advent of journalism. Some of the challenges stem from the typical struggles newsrooms face with being understaffed and overworked. But many of the challenges are also rooted in an inability to grapple with, and commit to, change.

What’s one thing you wish more journalists knew about?

I wish journalists knew more about community engagement. What it means to build non-extractive relationships with community members, to center your journalism around them and serving their information needs, and to be in community with them.