Dear Bono....

Minnesota News Council Mission

The mission of the Minnesota News Council is to promote fair, vigorous and trusted journalism by creating a forum where the public and the news media can engage each other in examining standards of fairness.

The Minnesota News Council’s mission is to promote fairness in the news media by helping the public to hold news outlets accountable for the stories they produce. The tenets of fairness, balance and accuracy are considered essential to good journalism. But these standards are not always defined in the same way by journalists and by the public. The News Council exists to open a productive dialogue between the public and the media on the standards the media upholds. One way we do this is by holding public hearings on unresolved individual complaints about news coverage.

We believe that:

-a healthy democracy requires a fair, vigorous and trusted media;
-the public benefits when news outlets help them hold societal institutions accountable
-the news media benefit from being held accountable
-interaction between the public and the news media demystifies journalistic practices, creates mutual -understanding and promotes trust;
-public discussion addresses and promotes media fairness more effectively than do the courts.

We believe that in order for the News Council to maintain its impartiality, the Council must remain independent of government and must seek and sustain broad-based financial support.

Washington News Council Mission

The Washington News Council is an independent, nonprofit, statewide organization whose members share a common belief that fair, accurate and balanced news media are vital to our democracy. We have been called an “Outside Ombudsman” or even “Better Business Bureau” for the news media in Washington state. We believe that a free press helps keep America strong, but with First Amendment rights come great responsibilities. We hold the news media publicly accountable for their performance, just as the media hold other institutions in our society publicly accountable. We encourage open public dialogue among citizens and journalists regarding news media standards and ethics. We also promote high standards of ethics and accuracy in citizen journalism and newly emerging forms of public communication.

Our mission is to help maintain public trust and confidence in the news media by promoting fairness, accuracy and balance, and by creating a forum where the public and the news media can engage each other in examining standards of journalistic fairness and accountability.

Media Council Hawaii Mission

The Honolulu Community Media Council (HCMC) was established in 1970 and is the oldest of the five volunteer media councils that exist in the United States. The Council is composed of individuals from the community and the media and is a non-partisan, non-profit, non-governmental independent group, which seeks to improve public access to information, strengthen public support for First Amendment rights and freedoms, broaden public understanding of the role of the media, and promote accurate and fair journalism in Hawaii.

HCMC engages and educates the public on freedom of information and open access issues through activities such as: monthly luncheon discussion forums; special public forums on FOI and media topics; annual FOI Celebration; and sponsorship of FOI public hotline in conjunction with KHON-TV’s ActionLine.

MISSION:

Media Council Hawaii — composed of individuals from the media and the community—is a nonpartisan, non-governmental independent group. It seeks to promote accurate and fair journalism in Hawaii, broaden public understanding of the role of the media, foster discussion of media issues, strengthen public support for First Amendment rights and freedoms, and improve public access to information.

New England News Forum Mission

The New England News Forum is a non-profit collaboration among news professionals, citizen journalists, educators and the public to support vigorous, independent, trusted, accountable journalism -- and accountable government. We strengthen and expand understanding and relationships among news consumers and creators by considering coverage, access, accuracy, bias, fairness, ethics, emphasis, privacy, freedom of information and technology change.