Accenture (2021, Brazil)

The management consultancy Accenture was commissioned by Google to write a series of national-level reports to “analyse changes in news media revenues over time in order to understand the scale of disruption to news media revenues, and the drivers of that change”.

This is the definition of public interest news that Accenture elaborated in their Brazil report – which, curiously, is the only country that gets a definition, and that in English, not Portuguese…:

This report defines public interest news as news that supports public accountability, fosters an informed citizenry and facilitates public discourse.

In supporting public accountability, which is part of the media’s role as the Fourth Estate, public interest news provides essential checks on power by filling the gaps in accountability that other institutions may not address. Public interest news
plays an important role in facilitating democracy by exposing abuses of power and protecting community interests.

Public interest news fosters an informed citizenry by communicating information on a range of societal issues, which enables people to participate in democratic processes and make informed decisions. Reporting on issues that affect the lives of people in all communities can improve social cohesion and foster a sense of shared reality.

Public interest news facilitates public discourse by providing news that reflects a range of views. Taken together, diverse views are important for shaping future decision-making.

Public interest news should achieve seven objectives

The news media’s role involves more than just reporting on the issues. It is not enough for news organisations to report on issues of public interest. They should also represent diverse views, remain independent of government and corporate
interference, provide high-quality journalism, be factually accurate and reliable, be physically and financially accessible, be relevant, and be seen and consumed by the general public.

• A variety of opinions across news media is essential for democracy | plurality
• Those opinions need to be reported independent of government and other
dominant interest group influence | independence
• In addition to a variety of independent viewpoints, the news supplied needs to be on topics relevant to the public | relevance
• That relevant news needs to be accurate and reliable | reliability
• The news needs to be more than accurate facts. It needs depth and context in order to inform the public | quality
• News may meet all the above criteria, but it also needs to be financially and physically accessible to ensure it can be consumed | accessibility
• The news can include a plurality of independent views, contain relevant, reliable and quality information, and be accessible, but it is also necessary that people choose to consume public interest news | reach

It is only by meeting these seven key objectives that the providers of public interest news can be said to have achieved their broader purpose.