During Poynter's National Advisory Board meeting, a panel of journalists discussed how to defend the role of facts in a climate of high polarization and distrust in media. They highlighted the importance of focusing on undeniable events, like the Great Recession and the pandemic, when facts matter most to people regardless of political affiliation. The panelists emphasized the challenge posed by 'truthiness,' where personal belief overshadows reality, and called for greater transparency in journalism to rebuild public trust.
Deggans: I think the big challenge we're facing is that exact question: How do we communicate the importance of facts? And I feel like writ large, what's happened is that we get distracted, and then something happens outside the political process or the media process... And I think one of our biggest challenges is the growth of what Stephen Colbert called "truthiness," where people increasingly believe that because they believe something intensely, it must be true.
Kumar: Journalists must also focus on building trust and credibility in their sources and what they provide to the public. We have to be transparent about how we gather facts and what those facts mean.
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