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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. Christian Science Monitor	3.2

Ranking: Excellent ( tied with BBC News, CBS and NPR).
Details of Findings:
	There is a corrections page. The corrections link is labeled clearly on the homepage and one click away. The corrections page is two clicks from homepage. The corrections page has a link to the original story with the correction. The corrections page also provides a link to contact the editor.
	Ownership information can be found easily and is accessible from the home page within 1-2 clicks. Information about the owner is also easily found.
	A code of ethics and information on conflicts of interest are available, but their wording is vague. There is a code of conduct but it is also vague. The web site points out that it is owned by an organization with clear cut biases.
	News Values are linked from the homepage within one click. Talks about the history of the paper and the values that it was founded on. Explains how the values affect what they publish and where they report from.
	The outlet did not have an ombudsman. A link is provided to send letters to the editor. A link is provided to view letters to the editor. Specific email addresses for individual reporters were given. Blogs by reporters were available. No live chats were available on the site. No information about this topic was available.
(Mike Wish & Graham Fitts)

About the Christian Science Monitor

Circulation/Audience

61,144 daily

Online Access

No log in needed

Parent Company

The Church of Christ, Scientist http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/

Other Relevant Ownership and Interests

-The Christian Science Journal http://www.spirituality.com/journal/index.jhtml
-The Christian Science Sentinel http://www.spirituality.com/sentinel/index.jhtml
-The Herald of Christian Science http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/gv/csps/herald.jhtml
-Several radio broadcasts http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/publications/index.jhtml

Parent Company Revenue

Not Available

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