The Torstar trust legacy
Times change, torches are passed, new eras emerge, history happens.
But some values are eternal, unchanging through the march of time. In journalism, a realm of head spinning ceaseless change in recent years, those timeless values include accuracy, fairness, accountability and transparency — the foundations of trustworthy news and information.
Having told you of the Star’s commitment to these journalistic values many times over the past 13 years, I felt some solace upon learning this week of the momentous news of the sale of Torstar that the future new owners had immediately and publicly committed to these enduring values. In writing. For all to witness.
Indeed, an online statement on the “Star Forward” website of NordStar Capital, controlled by Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett, proclaims a truth I have been shouting from this public editor column space for some time: “In these uncertain and challenging times, we need trusted news more than ever.”
Bitove makes explicit the prospective owners’ commitment to the Star’s legacy of trustworthy journalism and to the Atkinson Principles that have long guided the progressive social justice policies of this organization.
“We are committed to investing in the news business, along with preserving the Atkinson Principles, as fairness and accuracy will continue to guide the papers’ prevailing value system,” Bitove states.
I expect that like me, in such a time of uncertainty and questions about the future of our journalism, many Star journalists and journalists across Torstar’s many newsrooms — and many readers — felt a measure of wary relief to see this public pronouncement from our prospective new owners supporting the trustworthy journalism to which we are committed.
Indeed, across this news organization we are acutely aware that those values are core to the Star’s legacy. On the seventh floor of our building, in the offices of the Atkinson Foundation, hangs a painting depicting the 1890s newsroom of Toronto Star founder Joseph E. Atkinson. On the wall of that newsroom hangs a poster adorned with words that proclaim the mission of “A Paper for the People: Brightness, Accuracy, Enterprise.”
These values have been proclaimed publicly and proudly many times over throughout the Star’s 128 years of serving its readers and its community.
“The most valuable asset a newspaper can have is its reputation for telling the truth,” thenpublisher Beland Honderich said in 1972 on opening the Star’s new offices at One Yonge St.
Some four decades later, Torstar chair John Honderich restated that value of trustworthy journalism: “The public trusts the Toronto Star … In this day in age during serious erosion in the public trust of a range of private and public institutions, that trust is a further fortifying asset.”
In recent years, Robin Honderich, the Star’s director of audience growth and subscription, has overseen initiatives to ensure this legacy of trustworthy journalism continues on the Star’s digital platforms, leading the Star’s participation in the Trust Project, a global network of quality news organizations embedding universal “Trust Indicators” in digital news sites to affirm and amplify journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, inclusion and fairness.
Torstar’s Journalistic Standards Guide, the document to which readers can hold the Star’s journalism to account affirms this commitment. Its opening paragraph states: “Ethical journalism is the foundation of Torstar news organizations’ integrity and is essential to our credibility with our audiences. Accuracy, fairness and quality journalism have long been critical to our newsrooms and are especially so in this digital media ecosystem where trust and transparency matter more than ever.”
Of course, while the realities of daily journalism means that newsrooms sometimes fall short of our standards, we know that trustworthy journalism matters much. It always has and I believe it always will. It is the heart of the relationship between a news organization and its audiences. Credibility is our core product. And studies tell us that this is “a business imperative.”
“People who put a higher premium on trust related factors are more engaged with news, are more likely to pay for it, install news apps, or share and promote news with their friend,” concludes a 2016 report by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
“Trust is an important differentiator for building an audience.”
Trustworthy news is news that is accurate, fair, accountable and produced in line with journalism’s ethical standards. As the Torstar torch is passed and a new era begins, may we all hold fast to the core journalistic principle that has long been the foundation of the Star’s legacy: To build and maintain trust, we must be trustworthy.