Journalism and Social Mediaright thing for journalists to do.In the foreword to Charlie Beckett'sbook "SuperMedia: Saving Journal-ism So It Can Save the World," JeffJarvis calls this "the natural state ofmedia: two-way and collaborative." Ashe observes, "The one-way nature ofnews media until now was merely aresult of the limitations of productionand distribution. Properly done, newsshould be a conversation among thosewho know and those who want toknow, with journalists—in their newroles as curators, enablers, organizers,educators—helping where they can."As the economics, architecture,tools and technology of journalismchange, Jarvis writes that he hopeswhat changes most is the culture: "Ihope journalism becomes more open,transparent, inclusive and flexible."For this to happen, journalistsmust put public trust through publicengagement at the heart of everythingthey do. This starts with re-examiningthe values of journalism—what theyshould be and how we can live up tothem. Research conducted as part ofmy fellowship project* suggests thatthe public views the core values ofjournalism differently than journalistsdo. [See box on pages 36 and 37-]Journalists can't regain public trustwithout better understanding andrespecting those differences. A newethic of public trust through publicengagement would:• See public trust not as an abstrac-tion, but with an abiding desire toconnect on a buman level.• See the public not as an audience butas a community, of which journalismis a vital part.• See the Internet not just as a newmedium for communication, butas a new way of networking amongpeople, with journalism at the hub.• Be independent without beingindif-ferent or hostile.• Feel a responsibility to help the pub-lic be smart consumers of news.• Recognize that journalism isn't juston behalf of the people, but in concertwith them.Most importantly, this new ethicof public engagement can be thesustaining embodiment of Williams'sbelief that the supreme test of goodjournalism is the measure of its publicservice. •Michael R. Fancher was until 2008the longtime executive editor of TheSeattle Times. For the past year, he hasbeen a fellow at the Reynolds Journal-ism Institute at the University of Mis-souri School of Journalism.For more information about Fancher's project at the Reynolds Journalism Institute, goto http://rji.missouri.edu/projects/creed-convo/index.php.Why the News Media Became Irrelevant—And HowSocial Media Can Help'Only the savviest of journalists are using the networks for the real value theyprovide in today's culture—as ways to establish relationships and listen toothers.'BY MICHAEL SKOLERJournalists are truth-tellers. But Ithink most of us have been lyingto ourselves. Our profession iscrumbling and we blame tbe Web forkilling our business model. Yet it's nottbe business model tbat cbanged onus. It's the culture.Mainstream media were doing flnewhen information was hard to getand even harder to distribute. Thepublic expected journalists to reporttbe important stories, pull togetherinformation from sports scores tostock market results, and then deliverit all to our doorsteps, radios andTVs. People trusted journalists and,on our side, we delivered news thatwas relevant—it helped people connectwith neighbors, be active citizens, andlead richer lives.Advertisers, of course, footed thebill for newsgathering. They wantedexposure and paid because people, lotsof people, were reading our newspa-pers or listening to and watcbing ournews programs.But tbings started to change wellbefore the Web became popular. Overthe past few decades, news conglomer-ates took over local papers and stations.Then they cut on-the-ground report-ers, included more sjTidicated contentfrom news services, and focused localcoverage on storms, ñres, crashes andcrime to pad profit margins. The newsbecame less local and less relevant,and reporters became less connectedto their communities. Surveys show asteep drop in public trust in journalism38 Nieman Reports | Fall 2009Earning Trustoccurring during the past 25 years.As discontent grew among theaudience, the Internet arrived. Nowpeople had choices. If the local pa-per and stations weren't consideredtrustworthy and journalists seemeddetached from what really matteredto them, people could find what theywanted elsewhere. What's more, theycould stop being passive recipients.They could dig deeply into topics,follow their interests, and share theirknowledge and passions with otherswho cared about similar things.Connecting Through TrustThe truth is the Internet didn't steal theaudience. We lost it. Today fewer peopleare systematically reading our papersand tuning into our news programs fora simple reason—many people don'tfeel we serve them anymore. We are,literally, out of touch.Today, people expect to share in-formation, not be fed it. They expectto be listened to when they haveknowledge and raise questions. Theywant news that connects with theirlives and interests. They want controlover their information. And they wantconnection—they give their trust tothose they engage with—people whotalk with them, listen and maintaina relationship.Trust is key. Many younger peopledon't look for news anymore becauseit comes to them. They simply assumetheir network of friends—those theytrust—will tell them when somethinginteresting or important happens andsend them whatever their friendsdeem to be trustworthy sources, fromarticles, blogs, podcasts. Twitter feeds,or videos.Mainstream media are low on thetrust scale for many and have beenslow to reach out in a genuine wayto engage people. Many news orga-nizations think interaction is givingpeople buttons to push on Web sites orcreating a walled space where peoplecan "comment" on the news or posttheir own "iReports."People aren't fooled by false interac-tion if they see that news staff don'tread the comments or citizen reports,respond and pursue the best ideas andknowledge of the audience to improvetheir own reporting. Journalists can'tmake reporting more relevant to thepublic until we stop assuming thatwe know what people want and startlistening to the audience.We can't create relevance throughlimited readership studies and polls,or simply by adding neighborhoodsections to our Web sites. We need tolisten, ask questions, and be genuinelyopen to what our readers, listeners andwatchers tell us is important everyday.We need to create a new journalism ofpartnership, rather than preaching.And that's where social