Charlene Bisson, Arizona publisher

The Most Equitable Approach

For years, a nagging complaint throughout all of our Arizona properties is how do we hold the nearly one million monthly users to the most equitable standards when offering opinions on public issues”

Charlene Bisson

By Terrance Thornton
Twitter: @ININEWSMAN

The idea of maintaining civil discourse when debating public issues of the day is more than lip-service at Independent Newsmedia.

At Yourvalley.net, which is powered by the work of local journalists from corner to corner of the Valley of the Sun, you may have noticed a drastic change to our commenting system online.

We, as a nation, a community and as a business entity have had to re-evaluate every aspect of our day-to-day lives and our day-to-day work lives. But despite all of which we are forced to deal with today as one American community public discourse must continue.

But that public discourse ought to be civil and the best option we have found today is through a partnership with World Table: A Public Benefit Corporation.

Anchored by our team of dedicated local journalists, Yourvalley.net ushers in a new generation at Independent Newsmedia fueled by a true digital-first mentality.

The World Table and Independent Newsmedia may become a cornerstone of an online community resource for each community we serve through our approach to conscientious journalism.

“For years, a nagging complaint throughout all of our Arizona properties is how do we hold the nearly one million monthly users to the most equitable standards when offering opinions on public issues,” said Arizona Publisher Charlene Bisson. “While World Table does require one more registration click, it offers an innovate platform to rate stories, comments and provide real data metrics for us to better serve our diverse audiences.”

Our digital readers can register with nearly any social media platform from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram. The beauty of World Table is you don’t have to be on social media to comment at Yourvalley.net like our former Facebook-only widget. One can register strictly through World Table.

The core values at World Table --- check them out at theworldtable.co -- are in-tune with a digital-first approach embraced here at Independent Newsmedia.

And, we too, believe good, fair and non-partisan journalism is worth paying for online.

World Table officials report their guiding principles are:

• Good journalism is worth paying for.
• Supporting journalism is good business.
• The future and stability of journalism require radical innovation now.
• Everything we do as a business will strive to support and fund effective, responsible, and sustainable journalism.
• Effective journalism requires an engaged community.
• Responsible journalism provides a forum for civil discourse, public debate, and compromise.
• Sustainable journalism provides incentives for citizens to engage as creators, curators, and customers.
• Publishers have the right to protect their brand for their own sake and for the public good.
• Curation of both content and community input is the right and responsibility of journalists.
• We strive to abide by and promote The Way of Openness in all we do.

For Ms. Bisson, the time is now to embrace innovation and find better ways to empower all audiences through a commenting platform worth participating in.

​“We view our role as journalists here in Arizona as a sacred privilege and the next step in that process is empowering our audience to speak up and help make positive social change through a thoughtful approach to giving our journalists feedback on the work they do,” she said. “We are all in this together.”

Terrance Thornton

Executive Editor | tthornton@newszap.com

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I am an enterprise community newspaperman constantly trying to improve the craft of purposeful reporting in turn empowering the readership of our various publications and website.

I follow every lead and strive to provide a balanced approach to both traditional and emerging reporting styles and mediums.

Twitter: @ININEWSMAN