Can Transparency Rebuild Trust in News? Some Newsrooms Are Trying — With Mixed Results

Can Transparency Rebuild Trust in News? Some Newsrooms Are Trying — With Mixed Results

In a world where trust in the media is in sharp decline, a growing number of newsrooms are experimenting with a potential antidote: radical transparency. From Spain to Sweden, and the U.K. to the U.S., journalists are pulling back the curtain on their reporting process, hoping to regain public confidence in an age of misinformation and media skepticism.

According to the latest Digital News Report, only 40% of people across 47 global markets say they trust most news most of the time. In many cases, audiences are either tuning out traditional news altogether or turning to non-journalist figures they perceive as more relatable — or more trustworthy.

“Our problem is not simply that the public does not trust us,” said Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School, in this year’s Reuters Memorial Lecture. “It’s that they do trust other dishonest brokers. We are not just witnessing a crisis of credibility, we are experiencing a crisis of credulity as well.”

Cobb’s call for more transparency in journalism has inspired some newsrooms to rethink how they engage with audiences. This includes openly explaining editorial decisions, showing how interviews and investigations are conducted, and even publishing internal debates about coverage choices.

When surveyed in the abstract, audiences respond positively to transparency, especially when it involves explaining how decisions are made or sharing source material. Research conducted across Brazil, India, the U.K., and the U.S. shows that people consistently rank transparency as a top trust-building strategy.

But the real-world impact is less clear. A project led by former journalism fellow Jussi Latval found that transparency often fails to meaningfully move the needle on public trust — especially in deeply polarized or politically charged environments. Factors like partisan bias, cultural attitudes, and media literacy can all dilute the effect.

The bottom line? While transparency is seen as a step in the right direction, it’s not a cure-all. Rebuilding trust in journalism will likely require more than process explanations — it will take systemic change, consistent integrity, and perhaps, most importantly, time.

As Latval put it, “Transparency helps, but trust is built on much more than just being seen. It’s about being believed.”