A study this fall shows distrust of mainstream media has hit a new high, with 60 per cent of the public saying they have little or no trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.

The findings are based on a survey conducted by Gallup Sept. 6-9. The gap between negative and positive views — 20 percentage points — is also the highest Gallup has recorded since it regularly began asking the question in the 1990s, the report states.

Reading the article brought me back to a rich conversation I had with a like-minded journalist in Denmark, Cathrine Gyldensted, who’s looking to evolve her profession in her own country.

She referred to a recent study that had just been conducted in Scandinavia with similarly depressing results, a growing disrespect and distrust of mainstream media.

Cathrine mentioned a discussion she’d hosted at the global ReBuild21 event in Copenhagen, a forum considering how business, politics and media needs to reform for the future, where the same question had also arisen — but also a potential solution.

Yes, of course, we must first ensure we are reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly, but given the “room to move” those guidelines allow for, this obviously isn’t enough.

I think the journalism Cathrine, us at Axiom News and a handful of others are now seeking to bring into the world — media that is generative — is another part of the answer.

The response proposed in this Copenhagen forum was that we also need to put more effort into being transparent about what’s happening inside our newsroom walls.

“Usually, as traditional journalists, we say people shouldn’t know anything about the process, or we don’t think they would want to know,” Cathrine noted.

“But I thought this discussion was very thought-provoking, suggesting that more authenticity and trustworthiness would be fostered if you knew, for example, what news was not selected, and why.”

Hmmm. What if we put more energy into telling our own back story? What are our strengths, our weaknesses? What conversations are we having as a team? What gets us excited and what makes us anxious? What ways of being shape our decisions? What news didn’t make the front page and why? What are our greatest aspirations as individuals and as a team?

All news has a bias, I think most of us are coming to realize. So let’s be clear and honest about that bias. Let’s also humbly show our “human sides.”

Answering the above kinds of questions — in public — would do some of this.

Might it build trust? I think it could, though rather than tracking our readers’ trust — which is obviously shaped by a myriad of factors, not just our own work — I wonder if the better focus is our own authenticity, over which we have more control.

The response to a couple of our recent social media posts where we pulled back the curtain just a bit into what’s happening here at Axiom could be seen to confirm authenticity is a good direction to take from an engagement perspective.

One of these posts referred to a team conversation we had on what might be our organizational archetype and the gift we see ourselves bringing to the world. Engagement jumped a little with that behind-the-scenes reference.

This authenticity could be especially important for those of us in the generative media profession. People may be especially curious about journalists so evidently bucking media norms. Their awareness could help us serve everyone better.

For some time now, Axiom CEO and founder Peter Pula has supported, encouraged and sought to inspire sharing the news about the news process here at Axiom News.

Yet it can be so hard to tell your own story, when you’re living your story.

Regardless, I am more energized about figuring out some way to peel back the curtain at least a little more.

How can we be more intentional about telling a little more about who we are, what we intend, why we made the decisions we did — in all our flawed humanity?

Then you can choose to believe us, support us, join us — or not.

For more about our mission here at Axiom, click here.

And watch for more intentional transparency coming soon.

Feel free to comment below, or e-mail michelle(at)axiomnews.ca.