When discussing their work, these journalists did not talk a lot about “editors” or “assignments.” Rather we were struck by the degree to which they took their responsibilities and ran with them, charting their own way, directing their own work.
They are a group that’s unlikely to wait for marching orders. “Independence” is a journalist’s most valuable characteristic, one reporter said.
While newsrooms sometimes have limited guidance from overburdened bosses and a dearth of mentors, these journalists didn’t appear particularly troubled by it. They generally seemed highly confident in their abilities.
“I think all my ideas are good ideas and I’m surprised when they fail,” said Stephanie Arnold.
They are explorers, finding their own way, but with one eye on tradition and business necessity. “Feeding the beast” was the way some reporters described needing to fill the daily newspaper or evening broadcast. Stephanie Arnold called it “adulting.”
[pulldata context=”Independence is a journalist’s most valuable characteristic, one reporter at an @AmPress summit said.” align=right]“You have to do what you have to do in order to do what you want to do,” she said.
And what they want to do is pursue original stories that deserve attention, rather than track the agendas and announcements of officials. For instance, Mary Ellen Klas decided that she didn’t “want to write about legislative agendas anymore” and instead opted to focus on “counterintuitive stories.” For example, “What are [the legislators] NOT talking about?”
They also are good at “managing up” in the organization, setting expectations before embarking on a new idea or project, and using their enterprising ideas to dissuade an editor from assigning what they consider less meaningful stories.
Why this characteristic is important in accountability journalism: The type of employee traditionally labeled as a “self-starter” is a key characteristic — possibly even a necessity — for today’s accountability journalists. The typical newsroom’s declining supply of editors and experienced mentors mean there’s less time spent guiding longer-term, deeply researched reporting projects. These journalists need to possess a high level of self-sufficiency.
Share with your network
- 7 characteristics of effective accountability journalists
- Effective accountability journalists exhibit broad curiosity and eagerly adapt to new technologies and platforms
- Effective accountability journalists think about multiple audiences
- Effective accountability journalists work hard to create context for their audiences
- Effective accountability journalists smartly balance their time on story choices, audience interaction
- Effective accountability journalists spend considerable time building relationships with sources and readers
- Effective accountability journalists build connections and teamwork within their own newsrooms
- Effective accountability journalists find their own way and direct their own work
- Looking ahead: Some questions to start a newsroom conversation on improving accountability efforts
- Acknowledgments
You also might be interested in:
The press will be much more effective in serving people and strengthening democracy if it learns from what researchers are learning. Among the examples and takeaways, you will find that news leaders and non-news experts alike value the opportunity to think differently about the challenges in front of them, about how local news can change and how research can ask different questions.
When community members are no longer voters, their needs become diffuse once again and there is no clear, focusing mandate. So many newsrooms slip back into the usual: politics coverage driven by politicians and press releases. How do we avoid that backslide?
How can we avoid that backslide this time?
We see in research how trusted messengers matter for news that’s shared. We know Millennials and Gen Z pay for or donate to support email newsletters or video or audio from independent creators at higher rates than newspapers.
