“Trust Me,I’m a Sub-editor”

In this paper, I focus on one particular player in the newspaper production process, i.e. the sub-editor. I analysed the sub-editing process through participant observation in newsrooms in the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands. Looking at both the sub-editors at work (think-aloud protocol) as well as the articles in various stages of production, and informed by (retrospective) interviews, I have compiled a list of six of the sub-editor’s “production values”. These values guide sub-editors whenever they intervene, and help them to transform a news story into an appealing, correct and credible newspaper article. I took the lead from Östgaard’s “factors influencing the flow of news”, but also from Galtung and Ruge’s “news values” which help reporters to determine which “events” are transitioned into “news”. In doing so, I go beyond the limitations of previous research, in which the types of interventions carried out in the sub-editing stage of newswriting were categorised. By identifying the guidelines driving the alterations made by the sub-editor, I aim to move one step closer towards uncovering the intricacies of the sub-editing process. Moreover, I demonstrate how “the rewrite men” add journalistic value to their newspapers, as perhaps their brand’s strongest ambassadors.     

An Issue of Trust: Are Commercial Databases Really Reliable?

Entrepreneurial researchers utilize databases on new and emerging businesses that provide the contact data and other demographic information for research samples. Based on a literature review, the integrity of this data is often assumed, and the vendor's claims as to its accuracy are relied upon. This article tests the accuracy and reliability of one such database, the U.S. New Business database from ReferenceUSA. Specifically, these businesses were contacted to test the validity of the information provided. The research findings suggest that the U.S. New Business database from ReferenceUSA is not a vetted database, and researchers cannot rely on the vendor's promise of accuracy.     

From “Trust Me” to “Show Me” Journalism

This study explores the potential of an online platform that encourages journalists to post the documents behind their news stories to help restore the deteriorating public trust in news media. Based on content analysis of 200 news items and 315 accompanying documents posted on DocumentCloud, findings indicate that contrary to journalists’ traditional reluctance to rely on documents, the platform succeeds in boosting massive use of documents, both by mainstream and alternative journalists. Findings show that documents serve mainly to support factual claims (in 96 percent of items) and enhance the transparency of news processes, allowing audiences’ unmediated access to raw materials, and greater capacity to evaluate information independently. However, there are no apparent signs that journalists verified the content of the document. The article suggests that DocumentCloud is a unique example of a technology that may succeed where the former technology that promised to serve as a journalistic reference system, hyperlinks, had failed. If the DocumentCloud experiment is implemented on a wider scale, it might have serious theoretical and practical implications, which are discussed here.     

Does Commercialized Political Coverage Undermine Political Trust?: Evidence Across European Countries

Media commercialization has long been suspected of exerting a negative influence upon political culture. The news media's interest in intrigues, personal details, and scandals rather than political issues in order to capture audience attention is regarded by many as a prime source of political cynicism. This article scrutinizes this claim by examining whether a commercialized media environment correlates with lower levels of citizen political trust across countries. Integrating cross-national survey data with country-level measures of commercialized political coverage, the findings indicate that, across 33 European countries, a negative link exists between media commercialization and political trust. Replication of the analysis with a separate cross-national survey across 28 countries demonstrated the robustness of the findings. These support the claim that media commercialization undermines political trust.     

Public Trust or Mistrust? Perceptions of Media Credibility in the Information Age

This article explores perceptions of news credibility for television, newspapers, and online news. A survey was administered to a randomly selected sample of residents in Austin, Texas, to assess people's attitudes toward these 3 media channels. Contingent factors that might influence news credibility perceptions, such as media use and interpersonal discussion of news, were incorporated into the analysis. Findings suggest that people are generally skeptical of news emanating from all 3 media channels but do rate newspapers with the highest credibility, followed by online news and television news, respectively. Furthermore, opinions about news credibility seem to be correlated across media outlets. The data also show a moderate negative linkage between interpersonal discussion of news and perceptions of media credibility for television news but not for newspapers. When controlling for basic demographics, a positive correlation was found between interpersonal communication and online news credibility. Finally, a marginal association was noted between media use and public perceptions of credibility across all 3 media channels.     

How to Measure Generalized Trust in News Media? An Adaptation and Test of Scales

In many countries, studies show declining levels of trust in news media at large. However, there still is no valid and accepted measure of generalized trust in news media. To establish and test a suitable measure, we chose two elaborate scales of related concepts: the scale on trust in media coverage of a specific topic by Kohring and Matthes and a credibility scale by Yale, Jensen, Carcioppolo, Sun, and Liu. We adapted both to measure generalized trust in news media and conducted a survey in Germany to (a) evaluate the dimensional structures of both adapted scales and (b) analyze their predictive validity by testing their explanative power on alternative media use. Both adapted scales yield well-fitting models but should be carefully treated with respect to discriminant validity. The adapted Kohring and Matthes scale successfully predicts alternative media use and can therefore be recommended for further research on generalized trust in news media.     

数字仓储可信保障研究——《Core Trust Seal可信数字仓储指南》启示

数字信息长期保存是我国档案事业关注的重点问题,能否通过构建可信数字仓储实现数字信息的长期保存与存取,是我国档案事业在未来的发展中值得思虑的问题。Core Trust Seal Trustworthy Data Repositories Requirements(2020–2022)从组织架构、数据对象管理和技术三个维度16个角度开展可信保障工作评估。本文分析其整体框架得出,提升数字仓储可信度的准则在于确保所存储数字信息资源的真实性、完整性、安全性和可用性,数据可信是数字仓储可信的关键。在此基础上,进一步思考保障数字仓储可信度的核心问题,为数字仓储机构提升自身可信度提供参考。     

Local Radio Audiences in Iran: An Analysis of Ardebilian People's Trust in and Satisfaction with “Sabalan” Radio

There are numerous local radio stations across Iran. Considering the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural characteristics of their audiences, local stations endeavor to produce and broadcast diverse programs. One local station is “Sabalan” situated in Ardebil province in northwest Iran. Since the audience of this station speaks the same language as the inhabitants of the neighboring countries of Azerbaijan and Turkey, whether Sabalan can attract and satisfy its audience becomes significant. The paper is the result of a research project done in relation to the extent to which the Ardebilian audience is satisfied by Sabalan and trusts its programs. The findings reveal that the audience is less than satisfied with Sabalan and has almost no trust in the news, information, and programs. The reasons they mention for their attitude are: censorship of the news and little reflection of reality, lack of respect for indigenous culture and language, and broadcasting too many programs in Persian.     

What do clinicians want from us? An evaluation of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust clinical librarian service and its implications for developing futureworking patterns

Background: The Clinical Librarian (CL) Service at Brighton was established in 2003 with the aim of providing high‐quality evidence to designated teams and fostering an evidence‐based culture. Objective: To evaluate the CL service at Brighton and discuss the implication of the findings. Methods: A combination of internally collected data (n = 167), and an external evaluation of the service by questionnaires (n = 86) of users and non‐users and interviews (n = 9) of users. Results: Internal data suggest that the service is valued by its users and that patient care and continuing professional development are the most common uses for searches (confirmed by the external study); that searches generally result in some change in knowledge; and that this knowledge is disseminated. The external study found that visibility of the CL was crucial to the effectiveness of the role and that clinicians used the service mostly to get access to a wider range of resources and/or to save time. Users wanted the CL to include evaluative annotation with the results, and for the CL role to become more embedded in the team. Interview results expanded on the issues of integration of the CL and the need for annotation of results. Conclusions: To be most effective, CLs would be dedicated to one team, but financial constraints make this unlikely. Alternative working patterns are suggested as a possible compromise.