Improving demand - and supply - via transparency and engagement

We definitely need to upgrade the supply of journalism. But we equally need to upgrade *us* -- the "consumers" of media and other information, by also focusing on the demand side of the equation. Journalists must become leaders in improving communities' understanding of how journalism works. The attitude of "Here's the news, buy it or don't buy it, but it speaks for itself" is a key reason why so many people don't trust journalism. Journalists can help remedy this loss of faith in a number of ways, and we focus here on two that belong in all newsrooms' toolkits: transparency and engagement. Transparency means explaining how -- and why -- we do what we do. It means telling our audiences who we are, and where we come from including our personal and organizational world view. It means correcting mistakes fast and explaining why the mistake happened. Engagement means deep conversations and collaboration with the communities we serve. Experts in these areas will explain what's working and why.