How Indianapolis' new public editor is working to rebuild trust in local media

Indianapolis now has a unique kind of journalist, one who aims to serve as both a media critic and a connection between local newsrooms and the community. The Poynter Institute, a journalism nonprofit, announced in February it named Tracey Compton as the Indianapolis Public Editor.

In her first column Compton wrote that one of the biggest issues she sees in Indiana is a lack of trust in news media, a problem she said can be seen all over the country.

Compton said the solution starts locally. She plans to help build trust in local media by listening to the community and taking their questions and concerns seriously.

"My first loyalty is to the public," Compton said in an interview. "And I'm an advocate for the press, but I'm not a cheerleader for the press: I'm tasked with holding the press accountable, explaining newsroom decisions and creating transparency by shedding light on journalism practices."

Another facet of the job is attending public events to meet people in the community.

Broad questions about how local newsrooms work, or how reporters vet information before publishing, are relatively easy to answer according to Compton. But she said the most important questions come from community members with concerns about a specific story. 

"If people can be as specific as possible about the story that they saw, on the issue that they take with it, that'll really help guide my reporting and focus it," Compton said.

After gathering those questions, Compton will often approach the reporters and editors behind the work to find answers.

A declaration of independence

While Compton said she'll cover all newsrooms that serve the city, she won't be an employee of any of them. The position of Indianapolis Public Editor is run by Poynter and funded by various nonprofits, so none of the news outlets being covered have control over what the public editor writes.

The leaders of partner newsrooms, which have agreed to publish her column, expressed their eagerness to work toward increased accountability and transparency. 

"The public doesn't often see the work that goes into just getting this one story done," said Oseye Boyd, the editor in chief at Mirror Indy. "So I appreciate the fact that we can shed a light on it through another organization, where it doesn't look like we're trying to defend our work or ourselves."

And if the public editor finds a problem with the way a certain story is reported on?

"If we make a mistake, we look for our mistakes, and if we find them, we correct them," said Greg Petrowich, the president and CEO of WFYI. "If somebody else finds them, and they're truly mistakes, we would like to correct those too."

Everything old is new again

The Indianapolis Public Editor position is a unique venture, but the position itself used to be more common.

The Columbia Journalism Review observed in 2017 that the drop in public editors and ombudsmen at major publications and regional news outlets went hand-in-hand with declining profits and downsizing.

One prominent public editor in today's media landscape sits at NPR. That position is funded by NPR and chosen by its CEO. While it was traditionally an NPR staff member, the organization in 2020 partnered with The Poynter Institute to have Poynter's vice president fill the role, with a stated goal to increase independence.

The new position in Indianapolis is a chance to change how local newsrooms interact with public editors, and some hope it sets a precedent.

"We hope to roll it out in different markets because it's so needed in today's media landscape," Compton said.

Anyone interested in reaching out to Compton with questions, concerns, or comments can email her at IndyPublicEditor@Poynter.org. Her columns can be found on Poynter, Mirror Indy, the Indiana Capital Chronicle, and WFYI.

Compton will attend a free meet and greet event at the Central Library on March 11 from 6-7:30 p.m.

Contact WFYI Digital Producer and Reporter Jeremy Reuben at jreuben@wfyi.org