MILWAUKEE – Journalists from across the country are in Milwaukee this week, collaborating over how to succeed in an extremely challenging industry.
“There is an erosion of trust in the news media,” said Dan Shelley, CEO and president of the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA).
RTDNA is holding a leadership forum at the Pfister Hotel.
“(With the RNC just weeks away) we thought there is no better place to gather hundreds of broadcast and digital journalist leaders to talk about the challenges the industry faces,” Shelley, a former WTMJ News Director, told WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News on Wednesday.
“Local journalists have an incredibly critical role to play in society,” he explained. “We’ve seen a trend of less transparency in local government.”
Shelley described the insurgence of ‘public information officers,’ who work on behalf of local entities like police departments, mayoral offices, etc.
“(PIOs) are becoming public relations arms for agencies that taxpayers pay for,” Shelley said. “That’s not right.”
“What do we do to break through those barriers in a respectful, meaningful way in order to get the information the public needs?”
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