Trustworthy news is vital to society, communities and individuals. It informs people’s views, decisions and knowledge – based on evidence, verification, and accountability. More than ever, identifying what’s really happening in the world – compared with output from misleading generative AI systems or falsehoods from bad actors or hostile states – is especially important.
For professional newsgatherers to be able to seek facts and to report trustworthy news, the following needs to be in place:
1. Access To Information and to Report
In pursuit of the facts, newsgatherers from the professional news media sector must be given the fullest possible access to information and to witness events – Primary Source Journalism.
2. Support for News
Public figures, governments and institutions and society at large must recognise the importance of trained newsgatherers being able to report on a wide spectrum of interests – and to advocate for quality news journalism.
3. Independence of News
Editorial independence including fair critical journalism is vital and no newsgatherer should be subject to censorship – or self-censorship.
4. The News Environment
Practical arrangements must be in place for newsgatherers to carry out their work, without restrictions (and they must not be expected to pay to physically attend news events).
5. Limited Acces
Where a news event necessitates a process of accreditation access, ‘press passes’ must be granted on a non-discriminatory, equitable basis and transparent basis.
6. Sustainable News
As the sector provides significant societal and economic value, governmental organisations must be transparent about how they will enable and support independent newsgathering, content publishing, distribution and evolving forms of sharing news. Understanding the role, work and value of newsgatherers must be part of educative programmes on information literacy.
7. Reward for Trustworthy Newsgathering
Action must be taken to respect copyright and strengthen enforcement measures against copyright abuse, particularly where rogue generative AI and other technology companies scrape and commercially exploit valuable news content. Trustworthy news takes skill, endeavour and personal and business investment to produce.
8. Official Content
Official material is not a substitute for independent eye-witness news. If content is produced and provided in lieu of press access (i.e., if there are genuine issues of security, public health or space constraints) this event material is to be readily available, free, newsworthy, editable and not subject to restrictions on editorial publication, distribution or duration of use. Such ‘official’ content must indicate the provenance of the material which must not be manipulated.
9. Platform and Territory Neutrality
News content created in venues by the News Media is not to be subject to different rules set by news event organisations in relation to the form of editorial use, platform (print, online, mobile or broadcast) or type (mainstream or social media) or territory (geo-blocking).
10. News as the historical record
News content must not to have a ‘shelf-life’ (how long it can be published) determined by those that provide information such as governments, event organisations, or any individual who is the subject of news.
11. Engaging with the News Media
Organisations which provide access to information and/or news events are encouraged to engage with the representative News Media bodies. Policies and arrangements impacting the News Media, such as Terms and Conditions of venue entry of planning for major events must be discussed, with relevant levels of necessary confidentiality as early as possible and on a basis of structured dialogue.
12. Safety of Journalists
Journalists (whether based in the host country or abroad) can be especially vulnerable to physical and online attack. Those that foster hatred towards newsgatherers must be robustly punished under the law. Governments, news event organisations, the News Media itself and the public at large should support measures – promoted by the legal and journalism communities – to safeguard newsgatherers.
The NMC invites organisations, public policymakers and individuals to support and implement this Charter for trustworthy news.