Society of Professional Journalists to discuss political balance in the newsroom on March 26 at Tri-C Metro

By JOHN KEREZY, eyeoncleveland.com founder (see note below)

In 2016, a Pew Research survey reported that 76% of U.S. adults had much or a lot of trust in the information they get from national news organizations.  That “trust barometer” dropped by 20 points, to 56%, in its September 2025 survey.

Pew also notes that one in five Americans now say they get their news from TikTok.

Many journalists admit that there’s little or no political balance in their newsrooms. Former NPR editor Uri Berliner tore the Band-Aid off the topic when he examined voter registration rolls in his home, Washington DC, and recorded that there were 87 registered Democrats and no registered Republicans. He called it a stunning lack of viewpoint diversity in an article he wrote about this in April 2024 for the Free Press, titled, “I’ve been at NPR for 25 years. Here’s how we lost America’s trust.” (You can read the story Berliner wrote here.)

The Cleveland Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and Cuyahoga Community College are going to address this issue in a panel discussion on Thursday, March 26, at the Metro Campus of Cuyahoga Community College.  The topic is this: “Balanced or Biased: Does Political Balance Matter in Today’s Newsroom?”

Cleveland SPJ and Tri-C have assembled a group of panelists who will address this issue. They include:

ALISSON TORO-LAGOS — A (primarily) sports reporter with the Akron Beacon Journal, Alisson also worked in television news and video event production.

HELEN MAYNARD — Long-time news director at WEWS Channel 5, Helen is now community journalism director at Signal Cleveland.

TOM SUTTON — A long-time politicial science professor at Baldwin Wallace University, Sutton completed his career there as interim provost and acting president at the end of 2024. Today he is associate director of the Campus District.

I’m privileged to moderate the panel, and will contribute some opening and closing remarks as well. It’s not a spoiler alert when I add that I’ve been quite concerned about Information Disorders – Misinformation, Disinformation, Malinformation – for many years now, and that social media’s ascendancy compels professional news-gathering organizations to achieve a greater political balance.

The event is free. Some professors at Cuyahoga Community College (check with yours) are offering extra credit to students who choose to attend. You can register via the link just below, or simply point your phone to the QR code on the flyer (just below) to register. If you attend, you will be able to ask questions of the panelist and moderator.

Space is limited, and the sign-up deadline is FRIDAY, March 20. Hope to see you there.

MODERATOR’S QUESTIONS FOR THE PANELISTS

Q1. Would political balance in newsrooms help preserve democracy?

 Q2. Would political balance in newsrooms help protect us from the detrimental effects of disinformation extremists (on the right and on the left) who purvey propaganda and lies to their audiences?

 Q3. Could political balance serve to reduce polarization and improve (or restore?) civil discourse?

NOTE ONE: I’m an associate professor of media & journalism studies at Cuyahoga Community College. I will be retiring from this position later in 2026, and will be devoting more time to writing and to helping others.

NOTE TWO: Artificial intelligence was used to create the lead illustration for this story