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A majority of the public believes the media can’t be trusted.

Which global news sites are most transparent about their operations? Not necessarily the ones you would think….

Openness & Accountability: A Study of Transparency in Global Media Outlets

Main Results

Study Conclusions

Understanding Results

Why Transparency?

Study Methodology

Authors

The study used five categories to evaluate the news outlets:

Corrections: Willingness to openly correct mistakes.

Ownership: Openness about corporate ownership.

Staff Policies: Openness about conflicts of interest.

Reporting Policies: Openness about editorial guidelines.

Interactivity: Openness to reader comments and criticism.

	Excellent
	Very Good
	Average
	Poor
	Not Acceptable

	Overall Score	Corrections	Ownership	Staff Policies	Reporting Policies	Interactivity
3. CBS News	3.2

Ranking: Excellent (tied with BBC News, Christian Science Monitor and NPR).
Details of Findings:
	While there is no standard corrections page, a blog off the CBSNews website, called Public Eye , posts narrative corrections and amendments to stories. However, for online news sites, navigation and useability are paramount, and the lack of a single page or link on Public Eye to corrections makes it hard for visitors to get an overview of how many corrections CBS news has made.
	The owner information can be found, but it is not clearly available. CBS does cover stories on its parent company Viacom.
	Both a code of ethics and information on conflicts of interest are available and both are clearly defined, however, you have to access them through the CBS Corporation web site, not CBS News. Public Eye also posts videos of editorial meetings, bringing visitors into the decision-making process. That site also interviews reporters and producers about specific stories.
	There is not a direct or obvious link to “News Values” on the web site. However, extensive information on CBS news values can be found in different sections on its website, especially on postings on Public Eye.
	The outlet has what it calls an “nonbudman”—the editor of Public Eye who performs many of the same functions of an ombudsman. There are blogs by reporters, but there are no live chats or links to submit traditional "letters to the editor." Readers can, however, comment directly right after a story and see others’ comments as well.

About CBS News

Circulation/Audience

CBS Evening News, Week of Feb 26: 7,586,000

Online Access

No log-in needed.

Parent Company

CBS Corporation http://www.cbscorporation.com/

Other Relevant Ownership and Interests

Several Entertainment channels: http://www.cbscorporation.com/our_company/index.php

Parent Company Revenue

$14.3 billion for 2006

A center of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and the School of Public Policy. Copyright © 2006 International Center for Media and the Public Agenda. 1117 Journalism Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742