FROM THE EDITOR: Trustworthy journalism must use attribution

Dear Boonville: Not every story is a pleasant one.

Over the past two weeks, you have read stories about a former Boonville priest suspected in several sexual assaults; a man chosen to become the next New Franklin police chief who is suspected of having driven while intoxicated; and two stories about car crashes.

When there is difficult news that affects many lives — family members, people in a community, drivers — it is imperative that it be delivered in a way that is accurate, balanced and timely.

And it must contain attribution.

That word is key to good journalism, and it is a standard to which I hope you will hold this newspaper and its accompanying Web site.

Attribution is important because it lets you see where we got a piece of information. Here are some questions you should ask when you want to know how (or whether) a detail was verified:

1. Does the article I’m reading include a byline? In the Boonville Daily News, byline refers to the name of the writer, and his or her title or news organization. This information usually precedes the article itself.

2. Does the article attribute a specific piece of information to a specific person or document? This is sort of like going to the store to buy milk. You should be able to pick up the carton and find out what’s inside and who’s providing it. Same goes for a news story. You should be able to read the names of people who provided pieces of information, and identify documents or Web sites that provide additional details. 

Additional information may be presented in the form of a first-hand account (for example, if a reporter personally attends a meeting) or in a photograph.

3. Does the writer have an agenda? Admittedly, this is a subjective question. The BDN’s aim is to present you with as much information as possible about a story in a way that makes sense. The idea is that readers should be able to function in society, and that information assists in that functioning.

But don’t get me wrong — the media can do their readers disservice.

One way this happens is when a news outlet publishes a report that is not its own, without any identifying information.

Say I get a news release (BDN-speak for a written document created by people who work in the government, for a  particular business, etc.) and run it in the paper without telling you that I didn’t create it.

You’re left scratching your head about whether the information can be trusted, and I haven’t done my job by letting you know that the person who submitted it maybe didn’t strive to present a balanced perspective.

That’s not at all to say that most news releases are insidious in the least — on the contrary, we have excellent relationships with many people who send us news releases on a regular basis. You’ve read many of them in our newspaper.

Our solution: Print the news release, but tell the readers that we didn’t create it. Lately, we’ve been including the name of the group — for example, Missouri Department of Natural Resources — that sent us the information.

We hope it’s a helpful way for you to make judgments for yourself about the trustworthiness of the information. We also think it’s a service to the folks who take the time to keep people informed about the goings-on in government, business, etc. — they took the effort to put it together, so they should get the credit.

You’ve probably seen the “Shared By You” icon, and that’s another strategy we’ve used to keep our readers informed. This content often references that submitted by teachers, parents, clubs and other community members.

Again, we’re letting people know that their neighbors created the content — we’re just pleased to share it.

I hope you’ll help us keep our word by letting us know if you ever see items in the BDN whose origin is unclear.

We’re excited to not only produce original news content, but also to share with you the content of others.

We just want to give credit where credit is due.

Contact news and online editor Nate Birt by calling 882-5335 or e-mailing nate@boonvilledailynews.com.