In the middle of this summer, clusters of curious Dallas residents gathered in small groups on the second floor of SMU’s Hughes-Trigg Student Center. For three days, about 200 people met with and heard from Dallas Morning News editors and reporters. The News sent teams to walk subscribers and non-subscribers alike through the paper’s processes in making decisions about stories.
The gathering was part of The News’ trust initiative that launched in January 2025. The effort in strengthening the community’s faith in the newspaper has been on display not only at SMU but also in southern Dallas, the northern suburb of Plano, and other sites. More such meetings are in the works, including events like the voter resource gathering the organization sponsored one evening before the November 3 election.
Publisher and CEO Grant Moise described in an August column that earning trust “starts with something simple: making it easier for you to ask us why we covered a story the way we did, why we chose one headline over another, why a name was or wasn’t included, or why we made an editing decision you disagreed with … and getting a real answer.”
On the SMU gathering’s first night, the paper hosted a panel discussion on a subject dear to the heart of many Dallasites: sports. Two of the city’s teams — the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars — had just announced plans to leave the central city. Interest was piqued among the attendees about those moves and the paper’s coverage of them.
A columnist gave his perspective on the dynamics at play in the teams’ moves as well as about the then-upcoming World Cup matches in North Texas. A sports reporter discussed covering the Stars as well as SMU athletics. And a business journalist explained covering the increasingly complex business of sports.
During its stay on the SMU campus, the paper heard from the school’s president, Jay Hartzell, as well as other faculty members. SMU participants engaged with Morning News staffers on several topics, ranging from the religiosity of students to artificial intelligence to oral history projects. (Acknowledgments: I participated in one session as a SMU adjunct public policy lecturer and contributing columnist for The News, where I worked for two decades.)
The News has embarked on this trust project at a time when faith in the media at large is disturbingly low. The Pew Research Center found in 2025 that only 56% of Americans expressed a lot or some trust in national news organizations. The numbers, though, are different for local news organizations. Pew found 70% of respondents showed a deeper level of trust in the latter.
Moise wants The Newsto build upon the gap between trust in national and local news organizations. “We think that gap is an opportunity, and it’s also a responsibility,” he wrote. “If North Texas residents are more inclined to trust us than they are to trust ‘the media’ writ large, we want to earn that trust every single day, not assume it.”
The newspaper did pre- and post-event surveys as part of its suburban Plano three-day meeting in late September. Among other topics, the questionnaires asked participants to describe their trust in the newspaper as well as their interactions with local journalists.
Thomas Huang, who leads the trust initiative, said his takeaway from the community sessions has been that loyal subscribers are “super fans” who will critique the paper but want to see it survive. Non-subscribers want relevant, hyper-local news, such as about arts, culture, and events.
Being present
The News is not the only Dallas news organization seeking to build trust with its readers. The Dallas Free Press’ sole focus is on South Dallas and West Dallas. Those neighborhoods have long trailed the rest of the city in economic and education opportunities.
Editor Keri Mitchell launched the nonprofit digital site in 2020 and now leads a team of a video-journalist, freelancers, and documenters. The latter group consists of neighborhood residents who the organization trains to cover public meetings. Some documenters also write briefs about the sessions.
Listening to the neighborhoods is a key part of the hyper-local work. Hearing the residents’ concerns as well as what they like about their neighborhoods enables the news site to present neighbors’ voices. “They know what works in their communities and what doesn’t,” she said over coffee one morning this spring.
One day in late September the site’s homepage featured photos of an annual gathering of Pinkston High School graduates in a West Dallas park. The site displayed pictures from the South Dallas “Super Bowl” match-up between Lincoln and Madison high schools. And it presented a video of a neighborhood organization’s revitalization of a deteriorating South Dallas home.
In other words, news that reflects the triumphs in these neighborhoods as well as their sense of place. At the same time, the organization’s reporting doesn’t gloss over problems in its search for solutions that improve neighbors’ lives. The rebuilding of the home featured in the video occurred after the Dallas Free Press reported on the resident’s futile five-year attempt to get City Hall to provide assistance through one of its programs. The neighborhood organization, Frazier Revitalization, stepped in and rebuilt Eula Wilson’s house.
Practicing what it calls “citizen journalism,” the Dallas Free Press attempts to answer neighborhood questions and impact residents’ lives. That may be about zoning projects, such as the September story on a new tower being proposed for South Dallas. It could be instructing citizens how to make their voices heard about community issues. Or it could be providing basic information like learning to obtain a property’s title.
Reporters also follow up on initiatives or promises aimed at South Dallas and West Dallas. Did the big announcement make any difference? Did residents actually benefit?
Being in the community and remaining part of it is essential to building trust. Mitchell, a veteran journalist, contends that relationships are the foundation of the organization’s work. They are how the news operation develops the credibility to do its work.
When Mitchell began the Dallas Free Press, she repeatedly was told in both neighborhoods to keep showing up. “I had to be present,” she explains. “Reporting facts alone didn’t earn trust. Being there did. That translated into people sharing their stories.”
Eula Wilson was one of those people. Mitchell says it took time to win her trust. But when the news organization did so, Wilson shared her story. People at Frazier Revitalization read it. And the house was built.
Think creatively, even small
“Engagement” is a word you hear far beyond Dallas when talk turns to building trust in the media. In fact, engagement is the first of five common themes the Northwestern Medill Local News Initiative found among “bright spots” in its 2026 survey of local news operations.
Dan Whisenhunt, founder of Decaturish in Georgia, emails a monthly newsletter to the site’s 2,800 “supporters.” They not only pay for a subscription, but supporters invest more deeply in the news operation. In return, those backers receive benefits like free engagement, wedding, or death announcements. The goal, he says, is to give supporters a sense of ownership.
Whisenhunt also told Medill’s Jennifer Kho that “I respond to texts. Unless I’m asleep or dead, I respond. You can pick up the phone and call me. I don’t erect all of these gates between myself and my audience. I think it’s important to be accountable and transparent to your readers.”
Engaging readers pops up frequently in journalism gatherings, too.
Representatives from several news organizations shared at the American Journalism Project’s (AJP) annual meeting this spring how they engage audiences. Some ideas may seem small ball, but they build bridges between news organizations and their communities.
The Tulsa Flyer has a community engagement director whose job is to be out across the city, making contact with Tulsans at the State Fair, community centers, businesses, and elsewhere. The director infuses the newsroom with ideas, Ziva Branstetter, the Flyer’s CEO, told an AJP panel.
Tulsa Flyer reporters are expected to be in the community and on their beats as well. They are not to be reporting from their desks. One reporter printed out cards to hand out at events so residents knew how to reach her.
Before launching in 2025, the Flyer hosted 33 community events in a two-to-three month period. The team posts an interactive map on its site showing where the organization is going next and solicits ideas about where it should go. “Community listening,” Branstetter explained, is central to the Flyer’s work.
Again, small things. But that’s how trust is built, one meeting, one card at a time.
Listening and being present is how the nonprofit digital site, LA Local, gets tips and leads. Kristen Muller is executive editor of the digital site that serves 200,000-250,000 people across 4,000 square miles. She told the AJP conference that 25% of her organization’s stories come from listening sessions.
In an effort to find and provide news relevant to readers, the LA Local has standing office hours at coffee shops. Journalists meet residents in the neighborhoods they serve.
The Nashville Banner employs a novel strategy of its own. The online operation’s newsroom conducts monthly “library days.” The team selects a library and goes there to meet with local residents.
Steve Cavendish, the Banner’s editor and president, explained to fellow journalists at the AJP conference how reporters picked up a story at a library in a public housing project that they otherwise might have missed. Schools had been rezoned but the local transportation routes had not been realigned. Buses couldn’t get students to their new schools.
Here’s another novel example: the nonprofit Salt Lake Tribune, which now covers the entire state, meets readers at senior citizen centers, seeks out communities at pickleball courts, and hosts events at university centers. These strategies are all about meeting people where they live, work, or play.
Reaching rural residents can be harder for news organizations that are based in cities or suburbs. The VT Digger, which covers Vermont, launched a Dirt Road News Listening Tour to hear from residents in neglected or overlooked communities.
This summer’s tour included stops at small-town bars and cafes, as well as a trivia night in one location. The site also surveyed rural residents to better understand how the latter get information, the issues that need more attention, and how local news might be more useful to them.
Conclusion
These are among the strategies newspapers and digital sites are using nationwide to earn trust through engaging their audiences. As that happens, citizens receive information relevant to their lives. Readers gain deeper insight into how news organizations operate. Residents even get their problems solved. Just ask Eula Wilson about her new house.
