PressEthic

Serious reforms in journalism are necessary to regain the public's trust and the central reason is a lack of transparency among its practitioners, says lifetime reporter Sydney H. Schanberg in the Village Voice today.

Yes, media critics aren't exactly in demand lately, as the press has taken a beating in the wake of the Plame fiasco. But what separates Schanberg's analysis is that he actually proposes some guidelines for reporters to follow in order to attain the elusive goal of transparency:

Admit your goofs quickly. When writing a complex story where a lot of information is still missing, put a paragraph high up in the piece telling the reader all the things that are still unknown to you. That way, you avoid the "voice of God" syndrome we are so often justifiably criticized for.

Furthermore, Schanberg criticizes the "large percentage" of articles that originate from a press release ("bad journalism") and addresses the issue of the moment in journalism, the use of anonymous sources:

"...confronting the problem of anonymous sources, because they are anything but transparent, is a key... When reporters agree with government officials not to disclose their identity, both sides are making a compact...if [officials] told lies and I could demonstrate through solid reporting that they knew they had lied, then they had broken the compact and I was freed from my grant of confidentiality.

Admitting mistakes when they're inevitably made, presenting a more authentic voice to the public, and only honoring anonymous sources when they hold up their end of the bargain....sounds like a good start to me.