During a panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Monday, Executive Editor Julie Pace discussed the essential role of a free and independent press and how The Associated Press is charting a path forward.
“The independent press is there to hold powerful interests accountable and to do that on behalf of the public – not for themselves, not for their own business, but really to be the eyes and ears for the public,” Pace said.
During the wide-ranging conversation, Pace addressed growing challenges to press freedom, and how news organizations can build and maintain trust with the public.
We talk a lot about how do we ensure that we are explaining our value to audiences … the editorial process, the fact-checking process, the discussion about selecting stories … One of the things we are talking about quite a bit is how do we bring more transparency to that process? How do we pull back the curtain on the types of debate that happen internally? How do we pull back the curtain on the way that we hold ourselves accountable internally before we put anything out externally? And how do we hold ourselves accountable when we do? It’s a human enterprise. We are going to make mistakes. How do we make sure that we’re transparent and accountable when we do put something out that doesn’t always live up to our standards and values?
Pace also touched on AP’s efforts to support state and local news in the U.S, as well at the news organization’s unrivaled American footprint.
“We are really the only organization at our scale that is still on the ground in all 50 states in the U.S.,” Pace said, adding, “We so deeply believe in that. Because if we’re not there, increasingly, [then] who is?”
Pace was joined by Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of The Dispatch, and Samantha Barbas, law professor at the University of Iowa. The panel was moderated by Jenn White, host of NPR’s 1A
