Transparent Journalism   

The answer to the question on the cover of the April/May article about journalism transparency ("Just How Transparent Should New Organizations Be?") is: very.

Research assistant Nicole Duarte has located a number of behavioral studies that demonstrate the value of open, two-way communications on both parties. Just one example: The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology has reported that when people are allowed to express their opinions about a process, their judgments of the process and of those carrying out the process were more favorable, even if their opinions did not affect the outcome.

Jon Ziomek
Associate professor
Medill School of Journalism
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois