In today’s digital landscape, news can feel like an endless stream of information that is at times, inaccurate and misleading. Media has the unique ability to shape and influence public opinion on a variety of topics. In this environment, it’s more important than ever to have access to sources of news that are reliable and trustworthy. At Afri Parli watch, we believe it is our responsibility to provide our viewers with accurate information so they can make informed decisions about their world. We also see it as our duty to help rebuild trust in media by serving as a source for reliable and trustworthy news that doesn’t betray the audience’s trust. As part of these efforts, we have outlined five ways we are committed to providing accurate and reliable news at afriparliwatch.

Double down on verification

Verification is the key to accuracy and reliability. We must double down on our commitment to verify the accuracy of news through multiple sources before we report it. This includes verifying information and the source of the information, interviewing people for comments and using original content from trusted sources. We also need to be honest about what we don’t know, when we don’t know it, and why. We understand there is no “one size fits all” formula for verification, which is why we’ve created a multi-layered approach to verifying information across all of our brands. We collaborate with members to hone and enhance these practices. This team of journalists, technologists, researchers and data scientists works together to ensure we are providing our viewers with timely and accurate information.

Commit to transparency

Trust is built by keeping our audience informed about the decisions we make. We can do this by committing to transparency in our editorial process. This includes disclosing any potential conflicts of interest, sharing our sources and methods, and being open about the decisions we make in reporting and publishing. This also entails being transparent about when we make mistakes and correcting them promptly. Increasing transparency is an important part of rebuilding trust in media. Afriparliwatch has a number of transparency initiatives in place to help our audience better understand our editorial process, from our Afriparliwatch Standards and Practices to our Decision Making section on our website. We also employ visual storytelling and the use of data to help our audience better contextualize and understand the news we report.

Hold ourselves to high standards

While transparency is important, it can’t be a substitute for holding ourselves to high standards in newsgathering. We must be committed to using the highest journalistic standards, which includes seeking out multiple points of view, providing context, and ensuring that we report on a variety of perspectives and demographics. This is critical in today’s media landscape, where audiences are more diverse than ever before and are looking to news organizations to provide coverage that reflects their communities. Holding ourselves to high standards also means having a strong code of ethics and editorial policies, and a robust training and mentoring program to ensure that standards are upheld across our entire organization.

Help build a more informed audience

In addition to providing accurate and reliable news, we must help build an audience that is informed and engaged. This is critical in this digital landscape of “fake news,” where audiences often lack the necessary tools and resources to discern what’s real from what’s not. We can help build an informed audience by offering support and guidance at every step. This includes providing more context around our stories and how we report them, using visual storytelling tools to help audiences better understand the news, and partnering with other organizations to provide trusted resources and information.

Focus on Quality not speed

While speed is important in delivering news, it must not come at the expense of quality. We must be mindful of the fact that a rush to publish can lead to inaccurate reporting and a breakdown in journalistic standards. This may include a lack of verification, transparency, and sourcing or a failure to provide context. All of these can have a negative impact on the trust audiences have in our sources of news. For these reasons, speed should not be prioritized over quality in the newsgathering process. We must take the time to report stories accurately and thoroughly so that our audience can have the information they need to make informed decisions about their world.