Sign up for The Media Today, CJR’s daily newsletter.
Following our announcement of four new public editors, journalists wanted to know more about the project. Our Editor in Chief and Publisher Kyle Pope has addressed some questions we’ve received:
Are we partnering with the outlets we’re covering?
I'm a little confused — have these outlets agreed to treat these journalists as public editors and publish their criticism? Or are these effectively critics focusing exclusively on those outlets who will be writing for CJR?
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) June 11, 2019
The latter. They’ll be published exclusively in @CJR. Whether or how these outlets engage is up to them.
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
But, how is a public editor different than a normal critic?
We're hoping the institutional weight of @CJR will help, as will the fact that these critics will be devoted to a single news org. But ultimately it's up to the outlets, and whether they want to take this seriously and engage. I can't predict. https://t.co/N2Vpsxzypt
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
I don't see it as a distortion at all. We have to redefine the term, because public editors up to now have been an internal thing. But these outlets have bailed on that. So we're going to try and do the best we can, without any guarantee of cooperation from them. https://t.co/H7cNq1idy1
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
Wouldn’t it be better if the news outlets appointed public editors themselves?
I agree it would be so much better if they would do this themselves. But they're not, so we're doing what we can. https://t.co/OvWSiARej4
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
Why did you choose The New York Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, and CNN?
Very interesting – but why no Fox?
— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) June 11, 2019
One answer is that our resources are limited so we have to pick our shots. But I also think Fox is a different beast, operating outside the norms of journalism, and I’m dubious this would matter much to them or their viewers. We may reconsider down the road. @Hadas_Gold
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
Does having a public editor really increase trust in the media?
Fair criticism. But what makes this a cool idea, as you say? In my mind, it's the fact that there will be an additional, focused entity holding them to account, and even addressing reader/viewer concerns that they're ignoring. That's got to help trust, a least some. https://t.co/SnNIfSzISx
— Kyle Pope (@kylepope) June 11, 2019
Has America ever needed a media defender more than now? Help us by joining CJR today.
