Enabling Primary Source Journalism
One document
New York (ots)
The News Media Coalition (NMC) of news publishers and national and international news agencies today (March 17th) announces a strategy statement to enable news reporting to help combat disinformation.
The NMC identifies Primary Source Journalism (PSJ) – everyday but vital witness-based newsgathering by reporters, news photographers and video news journalists – as the bedrock of understanding unfolding events, communities and world at large.
The ‘Framework for PSJ’ sets out nine conditions for on-the-ground newsgathering to flourish. Among them are: Access to newsworthy events, recognition of the effort and investment behind newsgathering and the lifting of barriers to evolving news reporting and news distribution.
‘There is a fast-growing realisation in so many quarters that quality, original news journalism is such a precious resource that it needs to be embraced, accommodated and empowered through specific means,’ said Andrew Moger, the NMC Chief Executive. ‘PSJ is the raw material of truth.’
‘That means ensuring the primary source journalists on the ground and in the newsroom are given every opportunity by governments, public figures and wider society to see what they need to witness, get access to the information they seek and to be respected for the work they do’.
Moger added: ‘An end to denigrating professional newsgatherers, an end to thinking that pushing PR material is the full story and an end to newsgatherers being shut out of news events and from legitimate inquiry.’
‘Pushback by news industry representative organisations in some countries in some news environments is to be applauded. Respecting the independence of editors, the NMC believes there is the need for more joined up and holistic approaches across territories and news cultures to protect Primary Source Journalism. Our framework is a start.’
Editor Notes:
What is Primary Source Journalism? PSJ is the reporting of newsworthy events by trained journalists with the purpose of better informing society. The creation of written reports, photography and video news material relies on journalists being able to witness news events of public interest and to access information about them. PSJ requires distinctive journalistic skills and conforms to industry codes of practice.
About the NMC:
The News Media Coalition, or ‘NMC’, is an international industry organisation of news publishers and news agency content suppliers – representing a significant proportion of the global news media sector.
The NMC, dynamically and uniquely, supports the content strategies of those news businesses by safeguarding independent news-gathering opportunities, ensuring their legal intellectual property rights are respected – and challenging arbitrary rules such as restrictive accreditation processes imposed by organisers of staged events of high public interest such as sports, showbusiness, cultural and civic events. For instance, the NMC engages with the sports movement and event organisation in numerous countries worldwide through structured dialogue, seeking to negotiate best practice arrangements for Members’ news operations and content freedoms.
The NMC was set up in 2008, in New York, initially with the support of UK publishers and global news agencies and collaborates with other news sector trade organisations focusing on the needs of Primary Source Journalism.
NMC Contacts:
Andrew Moger, NMC Chief Executive, via:
E: andy@newsmediacoalition.org
Tel: +44 (0) 7836 572273 572273
Original content of: News Media Coalition, transmitted by news aktuell