by Founded in Australia in 2011, The Conversation is a world-renowned outlet of news and analysis collectively crafted by academics and journalists. Serving the mission of informing public debate through explanatory journalism, The Conversation upholds transparency about factors that may impact the reporting process.
“Authors are allowed to write only on subjects in which they have proven expertise.”
The conversation
Here is what we can learn from The Conversation in the context of ComingFrom.org:
Be clear about your purposes
Amid eroding trust in journalism, the more transparent news outlets are about their purposes, the more impactful their work can be.
- The Conversation: “All our work is free to read and free to republish under Creative Commons. We do this as a not-for-profit company guided by a clear purpose: to provide access to quality explanatory journalism essential for healthy democracy.”
Be open about affiliated institutions
Because any funding or affiliation can lead to bias in analyzing and reporting, The Conversation presents a detailed list of its partners and donors. There is also a disclosure statement under each author’s name and annual stakeholder reports, helping readers to get to know how reporting might be affected.
- The Conversation: “All authors and editors sign up to our Editorial Charter. Contributors must abide by our Community Standards. … Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed.”
Make sure your process is clearly understood by the audience
The Conversation wants to make sure its audience is clear about how an article is composed and published. To achieve that, an animated video was created to cut through the editorial process and make it understandable and memorable.
