The Media Roundtable consists of Media, Brands, and Marketers coming together to change the way we express our differences in News Media and Opinion Journalism.
Our approach is different than keyword blocking, public shaming, and reactive boycotts that drive people further apart. Based on proactive, direct, and collaborative engagement between brands, creators, networks, and platforms we aim to shift the incentive structure away from supporting outrage, accusation, and vilification and toward media that fosters truth and civility in journalism.
Our goal is to help our members balance their business objectives with brand values by supplying tools to enable brand safety and suitability through proactive planning and strategic responses around controversial coverage.
Signing the Pledge is the first step toward change.
Weekly conversations with industry leaders:
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Introducing the Podcast Bias Chart
Media Roundtable’s first tool, provided by Ad Fontes Media and in collaboration with Oxford Road.
This Podcast Buying Chart will play a critical role in helping brand marketers balance brand values with business objectives when making podcast advertising decisions.
Our society is increasingly fractured by disagreement and outrage. We will not participate in deepening divisions. Instead, we will foster a culture where all parties talk and listen. By pledging your support of our Beliefs, you are offering to lean in, rather than turn away, as conflicts continue to arise.
As an organization, we aim to promote:
Clarity: A clear distinction between News and Opinion Content
Truth: News sources that show non-partisan third-party validation of fact reporting with a preference toward original fact reporting
Fairness: News sources that show non-partisan, third-party validation of effort to provide balanced coverage of divergent points of view and take on a non-partisan posture as a respectful adversary in holding people in power to account
Respect: Opinion sources that avoid name-calling, ad hominem attacks, or vilification of individuals or groups who are not acting in violation of the law, in favor of listening and on-topic argumentation based on the merits of ideas
De-Escalation: Sources and platforms that avoid promotion and exploitation of divisive figures and ideas for the sake of increased reach and engagement
Tolerance: All sources that seek to promote earnest efforts for collaboration, bargaining, and tolerance between parties with conflicting objectives and views
To achieve our goal, we offer our participants a clear and centralized path for conflict resolution, in partnership with Ad Fontes Media, the NICD, and administered by the Cambridge Negotiation Institute, including offering online resources and a single point of contact for support when contentious moments occur.
“A lot of the norms that we think of as journalism, that they would teach you in journalism school, are very tied to an advertising paradigm that predominated in mid to late 20th Century America. That paradigm supported a kind of journalism that we widely celebrate today, but it is the advertising business fundamentally that decides what kinds of media are worth creating.”
-Matthew Yglesias, Co-founder vox
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Our goal is to change media from breaking to building, going against the desire for instant gratification by exploiting differences, and focusing on issues without diminishing the people involved. Difference of opinion not only makes us stronger, but it makes us America. Let’s leverage our differences to seek common ground and collaborate across the aisle with respect for all parties involved.