Citizen Forums: Examining a Journalistic Transparency Initiative’s Capacity to Foster Understanding, Connection, and Trust

Abstract

ABSTRACT This exploratory research introduces and evaluates the effectiveness of a “citizen forum” transparency initiative. Survey research shows that most U.S. citizens have a weak sense of connection to news organizations. Many U.S. Americans question the news media’s trustworthiness, believe that their news media sources undervalue their audience, and feel that news media do a poor job of explaining story production. Designed to address such disconnects, this research initiative involved conducting two day-long events in two different U.S. Midwestern towns. Inspired by “citizen academies” facilitated in other local civic contexts, the initiative featured in-person panels and forum discussions with journalists and journalism educators. Panel participants talked about journalism-related issues and engaged with audience-posed questions/comments. Employing survey questionnaires and focus group interviews, this study’s mixed-method research agenda was structured to examine the extent to which such citizen forum programming can serve to promote understanding of journalism, facilitate a sense of connection with local journalism, and bolster/sustain news trust more generally. Ultimately, this multi-pronged case study offers evidence of positive outcomes relative to citizen forums promoting “engaged journalism,” though not without caveats and challenges.