KPBS recently published its new public safety policy, which embodies the station’s goal of giving its viewers stories that provide richer context rather than simply generating more clicks.
The newsroom is striving to include more voices other than public safety officials and to delve deeper into systemic issues.
“If you're someone who wants to hear the latest car crash on [Interstate] 8 or a random liquor store robbery, this is not for you,” KPBS News Director Terence Shepherd said. “But if you're looking for a meaningful, in-depth story that provides context, some historical perspective, policy changes, holding people accountable, then KPBS is your place.”
According to the policy, KPBS will provide such stories as wildfires, crime trends, and “issues of high impact to the community.” The station will try to avoid, or at least discuss further before covering, such stories as individual house fires, police shootings with only the police’s perspective, or issues that provoke public fear without providing context.
“This practice — running with stories without thoughtful consideration — can lead to diminished accuracy and lack of depth that may leave audiences with a biased perception of which issues are truly important to communities,” Shepherd wrote in an article for Current.
This approach aligns closely with the PBS Editorial Standards core principle of accuracy, which provides that accuracy is more than simply verifying that information is correct: “Facts must be placed in sufficient context based on the nature of the piece to ensure that the public is not misled.”
Additionally, the PBS Editorial Standards say producers of content must remain accountable and responsive to the audience. “Public broadcasting’s greatest potential is realized when it serves the unique needs of local communities. No one is better qualified to determine and respond to those local needs than the public television stations licensed to their communities,” the standards state.
Local PBS member stations are uniquely qualified to serve their viewers and community’s needs.
“Public media's role is to serve the public, the entire public,” Shepherd said. “We're not beholden to advertisers or underwriters. We're not beholden to corporate interests or politicians. We're here to serve the public and serve the public in the best way possible.”
The idea for the policy started with training offered by the Poynter Institute, a non-profit that provides journalism ethics training. After a couple of KPBS staffers participated in the training, the station decided to craft new guidelines for its newsroom. After two all-newsroom meetings, the initial feedback was that the draft was too restrictive, so the policy was made broader and more flexible, Shepherd said. “So these are guidelines, not rules,” he said.
Shepherd said the policy has already caused the staff to pause and consider how a potential story might fit with the new guidelines. A recent shooting in front of a public library served as a good example. The police were not cordoning off the area and there was no imminent danger to anyone else, Shepherd said.
San Diego is the eighth most populous city in the country. There is a hefty population of unhoused people, who often stay near the library, Shepherd said. The librarians do more than check out books; they look out for services that people may need. In this case, the shooting was not a public safety issue. Rather than covering the shooting specifically, KPBS stepped back and thought about bigger systemic and societal issues.
“So it has held us accountable to the standards,” Shepherd said about the station’s new public safety policy. “It makes us think through how we can actually serve our audiences better in a way that makes sense for KPBS.”
When KPBS adopted the policy earlier this year, it made great efforts to promote it. The station sent out a press release, posted on social media, and shared the link in newsletters. Shepherd said the newsroom does not think that any other news organization in the region has a similar policy, and the staff is proud of it.
“We're not in it for clicks,” he said. “We're in it to serve the audiences, to make them more well informed, better educated about what's actually happening.”
Contact Standards & Practices at standards@pbs.org.