Informing people isn't enough.
Journalism should treat people with dignity and respect.
People are hungry for journalism that reflects their concerns and illuminates possibilities. We are creating a dignity-centered approach to news coverage to make that happen.
Discover our solutionCentering dignity, centering communities
Belonging is a core human need. People deserve to be seen, understood and respected in their full humanity. And for both individuals and communities to thrive, they need to be able to see their neighbors that way as well. It is dignity – felt, offered, nurtured and held – that allows for the building of genuine connections and of shared narratives of connection and hope.
One of the many ingredients in a thriving community is a healthy, diverse information ecosystem — one that encourages people to see each other with nuance and curiosity and equips them to navigate shared challenges and decision-making. For that to happen, the people charged with collective storytelling and sense-making need to both approach their work with dignity and center dignity as an outcome of their work.
The Dignity Exchange is a deeply collaborative effort of six leading organizations in the journalism and democracy space to center universal human dignity in the practice of journalism. We are working, in concert and kindness, to develop, refine and elevate news gathering and sharing practices that center dignity across each stage of the news process, from ideation and conception, to gathering, to refining, to sharing, to reflecting. We fuel stories that connect, instead of divide, communities.
The problem we're addressing
People feel misrepresented or ignored by news coverage. Many are avoiding news altogether because it harms their mental health and deepens societal fractures. Journalism can do better.
Simplified narratives
Journalists too often flatten complex people and narratives, reinforcing polarization instead of embracing curiosity.
Unconscious bias
Coverage decisions are often based on subconscious routines, assumptions, and values that can be harmful and exclusionary.
Problem without solutions
Too many reports focus on problems without exploring what can be done to solve them, leaving audiences feeling hopeless.
100 Days of Dignity: A conversation
Watch our webinar to learn more about what it looks like to live together with dignity and how journalism can play a pivotal role.
Catalyzing a shift in journalism
We will guide newsrooms to create change, moving from journalism that divides to journalism that heals.
From: Stoking division
Journalism that stokes division and fear, allowing people to entrench into existing views.
To: Fueling curiosity
Journalism that fuels curiosity and encourages people to see each other with empathy and dignity.
From: Lazy stereotypes
News coverage that centers extreme views, causing most people to feel disconnected.
To: Embracing nuance
Coverage that embraces complexity, allowing more people to feel seen and accurately reflected.
From: Focusing on problems
Reporting that overwhelmingly focuses on problems, leaving people feeling hopeless.
To: Reporting on responses
Rigorous reporting on responses that equips people to navigate their lives and act.
Our solution: The Dignity Exchange
A support system for journalists to catalyze reflection and improved news coverage, elevating dignity as an organizing principle.
Equip journalists
Infuse coverage with dignity-focused questions and processes.
Support newsrooms
Provide coaching, peer learning, and direct funding for innovative work.
Guide culture change
Help newsrooms explore biases and build internal trust and openness.
Research impact
Measure how dignity-focused coverage changes how people feel and act.
How this approach is different
We recognize that better journalism alone cannot eliminate the problems that prevent people from living together with dignity. But we firmly believe that dignity-infused journalism can provide the foundation needed for conditions to improve.
Journalists need to update their routines throughout the life cycle of their work. Here is a look at specific changes that will lead to the desired impact.
Community engagement
Identifying who journalism is for, forming advisory committees, deep listening with diverse stakeholders, hosting community conversations, and establishing continual feedback loops.
Story planning & sourcing
Using stakeholder mapping to plan coverage, intentionally including voices that are too often overlooked or stereotyped, and routinely checking in about what's missing from the narrative.
Signaling to sources
Clearly communicating the intention to reflect a source's reality and values, and updating interview processes to involve checking in for accuracy and nuanced understanding.
Signaling to the audience
Stating the intention to reflect diverse experiences with dignity and extending an open invitation for ongoing input and feedback from the community.
Story crafting
Including an editor’s note to signal thoughtful intent, crafting headlines that don't oversimplify people or views, and drawing attention to dialogue between different perspectives.
How we’ll move the work forward
The kind of journalism that centers dignity is hard to find. To show what’s possible, we propose embarking on three pilot projects to demonstrate the potential impact of this changed approach.
Invite partners to identify a crisis of dignity in their communities and describe how their journalism could help.
Assess willingness of journalists to infuse dignity practices in their planning, interviewing, engagement and story creation processes.
Select newsrooms, map out a six-month project, and assign them a dignity coach.
Document and research journalists' processes and conduct pre/post research with journalists and community members to assess impact.
Share publicly the resources, processes, content and research results to inform the wider industry.
Map out future work with an eye toward wider adoption.
The Dignity Exchange: Interest form
Journalists serving communities are invited to partner with us to explore: How might we equip people to navigate their lives together with dignity?
Express Your InterestWhat dignity-infused journalism looks like
We've gathered examples of journalism that offer a glimpse of what is possible when dignity is centered.
Eagle Pass, Texas, once boiled with border crossings. Now it’s quiet.
Christian Science Monitor
What stands out: Centers voices not often explored in polarized immigration coverage, offering a nuanced look at the complex implications of policy on local communities.
In Kansas, the Shawnee vie for control of their history
Christian Science Monitor
What stands out: Deeply explores ownership over narratives, grounding multiple perspectives in legitimacy and resisting the binary of hero and villain.
How Indianapolis Came Together to Welcome Haitian Newcomers
The Haitian Times
What stands out: Centers lived experiences and collaborative responses, casting immigrants as resourceful contributors rather than a burden.
How these University of Texas-Austin students view Gaza war protests
NPR
What stands out: Goes beyond conflicting views to offer context and history. The journalist models deeper listening and curiosity, explaining her process to the audience.
TikTok Is Shaping How We Think About ADHD
Science Friday
What stands out: Respects and highlights different kinds of expertise, valuing lived experience alongside academic research to challenge and complicate findings.
How One Philadelphia Prison Could Change Incarceration in America
Philadelphia Magazine
What stands out: A solutions-focused story that challenges assumptions by showing what’s possible when the humanity of inmates and officers is respected.
Advocates begin Migrant Trail to 'bear witness' to deaths
Tucson Sentinel
What stands out: Centers the migrants themselves and frames the story as an intentional act of remembrance, honoring victims' humanity while holding systems accountable.
Who benefits from this work?
Individuals
Get journalism that centers their needs, improves their lives, and is more relevant and useful.
Communities
Get journalism that helps people understand each other and empowers them toward collective action.
Journalists
Experience improved fulfillment, mission, and empowerment in their work.
Newsrooms
Improve their relationship with their communities and strengthen their public service role.
A more informed and empathetic public
Dignity-centered journalism is not just for newsrooms; it’s a public good that can heal divides and foster a healthier society.
Reduces polarization
By moving beyond stereotypes and "us vs. them" narratives, this approach helps people find common ground and see the humanity in others.
Encourages constructive dialogue
News that explores solutions and nuances equips citizens to have more productive conversations about the challenges their communities face.
Rebuilds trust in media
When people feel seen, heard, and respected by the press, it restores their faith in journalism as an essential institution for a functioning democracy.
