Research in the United States finds that most people are not familiar with terms that many journalists use and can’t tell the difference between editorial, opinion pieces, news stories and sponsored content.
Here, in Canada, we have seen that almost two thirds of adults can’t tell the difference between real and fake news either.
As part of Metroland and Torstar’s trust initiative, all content is clearly labelled to foster transparency and build a trusted relationship with readers.
A recent op-ed in the Richmond Hill Liberal provided explanations of all content types and how they are identified within the paper. Lee Ann Waterman, editor-in-chief of Metroland Media, York Region writes “Labelling content by its type or providing a signpost is just one way we aim to be as transparent as possible with our readers.”
