Is it an independent “Truth-o-Meter” or simply a tool that reinforces the trust consumers have instilled in live and local broadcast television news across the U.S.? Audiences across Indiana’s Circle City will soon be the judge, thanks to a pilot project that establishes an Indianapolis public editor to serve the news media market funded by the nonprofit Poynter Institute.
The Indianapolis Public Editor will act “as a bridge between the many newsrooms that serve the community and news consumers,” Poynter explains. “This project is designed to test the effectiveness of independent accountability and public education in a local news market.”
The project is led by Poynter SVP Kelly McBride, who chairs Poynter’s Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, and has received grant funding from the Lumina Foundation and the Hearst Foundations.
Poynter is currently accepting applications for the Indianapolis Public Editor.
“The goal of a local public editor is to help the people who live in Indianapolis understand their news ecosystem better and ultimately enable people to hold their local journalists accountable for what they need from them, and also when appropriate to elevate great journalism,” said McBride, who since 2020 has been the Public Editor for NPR and was in a similar role at ESPN from 2011-2012.
McBride herself serves as NPR’s public editor, a position she’s held since 2020. Before that, she was public editor for ESPN from 2011-12.
The public editor will essentially serve as a media critic focused on how Indianapolis newsrooms understand and provide coverage in line with the needs of local communities. The Indianapolis Public Editor’s work will be published on participating local news sites.
Specifically, the editor “will examine the entire news ecosystem that serves Indianapolis, answering questions from the audience and explaining how journalists throughout the market make decisions about coverage.” Those columns will appear on the project’s partner newsrooms, which currently include NPR Member station WFYI, nonprofit news hub Mirror Indy and state government-focused news site Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Additional Indianapolis newsrooms are considering joining the project at a later date, answering the question if The Indianapolis Star, owned by Gannett; or any commercially licensed TV or radio stations will be participating.
Greg Petrowich, President/CEO of WFYI, said his organization was eager to participate, even as NPR has come under fire in recent years for its liberal bias on news involving Washington politics and the Israeli conflict with terrorist organization Hamas. “At a time when public trust in news is at a critical low, the role of a public editor offers transparency and education around how news is gathered and reported,” he said. “As a local public media station with a decades-long commitment to trusted journalism, we’re excited to bring this service to our WFYI audience. We believe this initiative will foster engagement in local news and build a more civically engaged and well-informed public.”
