Being transparent is essential for building trust with a digital audience. Providing information about who is behind a particular article, how it’s researched, and how editorial decisions are made allows readers to better understand the motivations and biases of the media outlet and its journalists. This can help to create a sense of transparency and accountability.
Providing author bios is a simple but effective way to be transparent about who is producing the news. Author bios tend to include information about a journalist’s background, experience, and areas of expertise. This can help readers understand the context and perspective of the journalist, and can also increase the credibility of the publisher overall.
In addition to author bios, publishers can also provide information about their newsroom policies and values. This can include information about how stories are chosen and reported, as well as the organization’s standards for accuracy and fairness. By being transparent about these processes helps publishers demonstrate their commitment to high journalistic standards.
Being transparent with how data is collected and used helps to put users at ease, ultimately showing that personal data is valued and respected, and will not be misused. Best practices recommend publishers clearly include links to their data privacy policies on registration forms, and consider data collection as a fair value exchange- requesting a small, reasonable piece of personal information in exchange for some value e.g. access to trusted premium content.