This week’s Behind the Headlines comes from Sunday National editor Stewart Ward. To receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every week for free, click here.
TRUST me – I’m a journalist.
You can be honest if that phrase made you scoff. And yet it’s at the core of my profession. We need readers to trust us. From reviewing dodgy films to exposing dodgy politicians.
So, can you trust me?
In this week’s behind the headlines, I want to reflect on that question, and explain to you a change we’re making: The Sunday National will not be publishing a leader every week as we do now.
One of the major challenges for modern journalism is a loss of trust among the public. One survey reported by Press Gazette suggested this was due to a lack of understanding of the industry. I certainly don’t think that’s the case with readers of The National.
Our audience is highly tuned to all matters media – an inevitable consequence of coming into conflict with a press that so disproportionately and vehemently opposes a cause held by around half of the population.
Highly visible bias on issues such as Scottish independence, Brexit and Gaza by the likes of the BBC also works its way down the chain. I know incredibly talented local journalists, working with accuracy and huge effort to hold councils to account – and it’s harder than ever for them to find an audience for that good work when the public has a wider distrust of journalism.
We often don’t help our case. Making snide comments on social media rather than showing some humility to try to win back the trust of the public helps not a soul. We must acknowledge the issue to fix it.
So, why should you trust me as a journalist?
One of the biggest challenges in keeping well informed is time. There is an overwhelming amount of news happening. Readers could have obligations including a full-time job, caring responsibilities and branch meetings to attend, it can be difficult to keep up to date with all of what’s happening even for the best of us.
READ MORE: Poor Things: What I thought of the film as an Alasdair Gray fanatic
That’s our job. Every minute of every day, we’re switched on in the newsroom – watching dull committee meetings for that one gem that exposes a crucial truth. And if there’s a major breaking story, I encourage you to compare our coverage to that of our rivals. (Though we still need top tip-offs, of course!)
The National also wears its heart on its sleeve. We are open about being a pro-independence newspaper which holds positions including a desire to grow our nation’s links with Europe and questioning the privilege of the monarchy.
That, I hope, allows you to further trust our work as journalists. We are clear about the context in which to read our articles – and we know our facts hold up.
The core matter here is that I believe we are valuable as a journalistic outlet not in shaping your opinion, but in equipping you to shape opinions. And to form them.
READ MORE: Scottish General Election poll: SNP and Labour tied in new survey
And so we want to evolve our Sunday National leaders. At present, you’ll find them above the caption contest in our Seven Days supplement – they give you a sense of our paper’s stance on a big topic of the week.
You’ll find them intermittently in the main paper in future. Sometimes we will want to raise wider points about the movement we write for, as we did with our leader on a report about proposals from Stephen Noon recently, where we stressed the importance of open debate.
But it will not be a matter of course as it is at present. Instead, the time we use writing the leaders will be used for reporting and analysis. The analysis, from the likes of top political reporter Judith Duffy, will help put stories into useful context.
I now owe you an apology. In a piece bemoaning a lack of time to keep up with the news, I’ve written one of our longest behind the headlines pieces yet. But I hope it was worth it.
Journalism is evolving. We must recognise that as journalists if we want to best deliver to our readers. And if we want to win and maintain your trust.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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