All reporters need certain qualities. They should be curious, skeptical, fair, honest and relentless in the search for the truth. But maybe the most important quality is trust. I would tell all new reporter candidates that above all, I had to be able to trust them. Trust them to get it right. Trust that their sources were good. Trust them to ask the right questions. Trust them to know what they didn’t know. Trust them to ask for help when they needed it. I would tell them looking good and sounding good on camera was the easy part. Reporting under pressure, and getting it right is what mattered.
In addition to editors trusting you, of course, viewers must trust you. When this is lost, all is lost. The most recent example of this is the fall of NBC anchor Brian Williams. I worked with Brian for a couple of years in 1980s at the CBS station in Philadelphia. I went over his scripts daily. He was a hard worker and I never had any reason to doubt him. He moved on to the CBS station in New York, then to NBC News and eventually to be anchor and managing editor of the Nightly News.
He broke the trust by making up and embellishing his experiences in the field. He lied to make himself look better, or more important, or more courageous. He then couldn’t admit it. He gave these twisted and bizarre explanations of why he lied but could never come right out and say it. His Today Show interview with Matt Lauer a couple of months ago was painful to watch. I came away thinking he needed help and he could not go back to reporting.
What was more frightening, was NBC News’ punishment. Brian no longer had the credibility to return as the anchor and managing editor of the Nightly News but he could go back to MSNBC and cover breaking news. This shakes the very foundation of a news division’s credibility. What does this say about trust? We can trust him on our cable network, that very few people watch but we can’t risk him in the big chair anchoring the news division’s crown jewel.
There are more places then ever to get news and information. You can get any kind of news from thousands of sources within seconds. Everyone with a smart phone can become an instant reporter. The internet and social media have greatly expanded everyone’s access to information but, as we all know, not everything you see on line is necessarily accurate or fairly reported.
Now that people can get news from so many places, they are even more skeptical of the news media. Reporters and editors in this digital age are under more pressure than ever to get stories first. But it doesn’t matter if you get it first and wrong. Trust must be built into every news organization. You must have a system of checks and balances to make sure you get it right. If you make a mistake, admit it to your audience and tell them how you will fix it.
You only gain trust when you earn it. Many people don’t trust news organizations to tell the truth. Fox News is a conservative mouth piece. The New York Times is an example of the liberal media. They’re all out for “the gotcha moment” and can’t be trusted to tell the truth.
All reporters and editors should be able to defend their stories to people on both sides of an issue and send them away satisfied that they were heard. Your audience has to believe you’ve done everything to tell them the truth. It’s a matter of trust.
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