A new seven-week listening project from Positive News will explore what people truly value and how media could support a healthier relationship with the world
Every day, news organisations make choices that decide what deserves attention. Certain kinds of stories dominate the agenda: politics, crime, war, the economy – and these subjects are often told through a lens of conflict, crisis, threat, division or competition. These issues are important, but they’re not the whole of reality, nor the only way to look at the world.
What the media focuses on affects what happens next. Over time, it shapes what people notice, what they believe others care about, what they think is possible, and how much agency they feel they have. Journalism is never truly neutral. There are always choices about what to cover, whose voices are heard, and what kind of relationship with the world all of this encourages.
But journalism rarely questions the assumptions shaping those choices. So what would it look like to build a media organisation more consciously around the values, needs and lives of the people it exists to serve? That’s the question behind Positive News: What Next? – a seven-week listening project inviting our audience and wider community to help shape the future of Positive News. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be asking what you value, what you want from your media, and what role Positive News plays in your life.
As part of this, we’re launching our flagship Positive News values survey today. This draws on a long-established framework called Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, which is used by social psychologists to understand the values people hold closest. At the end of the survey, you’ll receive a personal values profile, giving you a snapshot of the principles and motivations that shape how you see the world.
It’s part of how we’re exploring an emerging idea called values-aware journalism. The premise is that all journalism reflects values, and that the things media organisations choose to emphasise – consciously or not – shape people’s sense of what matters in the world.
We also want to better understand what people are truly looking for from journalism at a time when trust in media is low, many people feel overwhelmed by the news, and digital content increasingly competes for attention through outrage, anxiety, distraction and disinformation.
At the heart of all of this is a question: does the media actually reflect what people care most about?
‘We’ve always believed journalism can build a fuller picture of reality and empower people’
Traditional news culture often gives most attention to ideas such as status, competition, wealth and power as markers of what matters. Yet values research has consistently shown that most people place greater importance on things such as community, equality, connection, care for others and care for the natural world. Values-aware journalism is about becoming more conscious and transparent about the values behind editorial choices, and the effect those choices have.
This connects closely with Positive News’ long-standing constructive journalism approach. We’ve always believed journalism can build a fuller picture of reality and empower people – not by ignoring problems, but by focusing on progress, solutions and human potential.
Now we want to take that thinking further.
Positive News is already structured as a community benefit society, a form of co-operative designed to serve the public rather than private shareholders. This next phase is about building on that purpose by exploring how more of what we do can be shaped around our community and shared values – from the stories we cover and the ways you participate, to the services or experiences we create beyond journalism.
We want to better understand what people are truly looking for from journalism at a time when trust in media is low
Because it’s no longer enough just to report the news – even if it is positive. What makes something newsworthy or “positive” anyway? What makes journalism genuinely useful? These are the kinds of questions we want to explore by better understanding your values and needs.
This is a genuine conversation. Throughout the project, we’ll share what we’re learning through updates, and at the end we’ll publish a full account of what we heard and how it’s shaping our next chapter.
Ultimately, Positive News: What Next? is asking a bigger question than simply what stories Positive News should publish. It’s asking: what does a media organisation that truly benefits its community look like? And with your help, we hope to find the answer.
Take the Positive News values survey now.
Sean Wood is CEO of Positive News and an advisory board member for the Common Cause Foundation’s Values in Media initiative.
Main image: SolStock
