Editorial Integrity group examining transparency in pubmedia

Could transparency become as important as objectivity in public media newsgathering? That was part of the discussion last week when a group of public broadcasting leaders, academics and journalists met last week in Madison, Wisc., as part of ongoing work on the Editorial Integrity for Public Media initiative (background, Current, April 4, 2011), writes CPB Ombudsman Joel Kaplan. Among some of that working group's recommendations are to post entire interviews when an interview is edited for broadcast; to webcast story meetings twice a year so that audiences can gain a sense of the station's decision-making process; and to disclose all of the grant funding sources on its website. The working group's papers may be read online here; a final complete draft is being submitted to the CPB Board at its meeting next week in St. Louis.