With information overwhelming social media users, it’s important for media organizations to ensure their audience can trust their reporting. Questions like, “How do people decide what news is trustworthy?” or “How can journalists influence what users consume and share?” have come up repeatedly at public forums that WITF journalists have participated in.
To help answer those questions, WITF is took part in the Trusting News project – an effort to create strategies designed to demonstrate the credibility and trustworthiness of journalism. In the links above, we explain our editorial process, we demonstrate our approach to ensure our stories are as balanced, accessible and responsive as possible, and we describe our ethics and funding.
The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over. Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be.
News Coverage
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Jared Wickerham
Students across Pennsylvania step up on Election Day to keep democracy working
If you’ve voted in person in Pennsylvania recently, you may have noticed that one of the poll workers checking you in was a high school student.
By Carter Walker of Spotlight PA -
iStock Photo
Arts groups push for more state funding after Pa. council ends key programs
Arts organizations are lobbying for a $5 million increase in funding in Pennsylvania’s next state budget and the reinstatement of longstanding arts partnership programs set to end with the fiscal year on June 30.
By Emily Scolnick, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Trump to pump $700M into coal power in Pa. and other states, as he again blasts renewable energy
The federal government will spend $700 million on building or refurbishing coal power infrastructure across the country in a boost to “clean, beautiful coal,” President Donald Trump said Thursday in the Oval Office.
By Jacob Fischler, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Matt Rourke
US House, including Pa. Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, votes to approves measure to restrain Trump action in Iran
The U.S. House passed a resolution Wednesday to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran and require congressional approval for further military action in the country.
By Ariana Figueroa, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Godofredo A. Vásquez
New study finds that ballot curing helps more mail ballots get counted
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used the 2024 election to measure how effective Pennsylvania’s ballot-curing policies are.
By Carter Walker, Votebeat -
Emily Reddy
ICE detainee who spoke out about conditions in Moshannon was punished, transferred
An ICE detainee was put in solitary confinement, then transferred out of state after the private contractor that runs a Pennsylvania detention center claimed he encouraged others to refuse meals to protest conditions, a report obtained by Spotlight PA and WITF reveals.
By Melissa Pérez-Carrillo of Spotlight PA State College and Jordan Wilkie of WITF -
Peter Hall
Police can issue $50 tickets to distracted drivers starting Friday under handheld device ban
Drivers who get pulled over in Pennsylvania for using handheld electronic devices will receive tickets starting Friday.
By Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Amanda Berg
Half of child deaths left unreviewed in Pa. since 2020 as counties struggle with ‘unfunded mandate’
Many Pennsylvania counties are failing to review the death of every child in their area, despite a 2008 state law that requires them to do so.
By Jaxon White of Spotlight PA -
Allison Robbert
Central Pa. champ places in top third at National Spelling Bee, hopes to return
Vedika Burman, a 6th grader from Central Dauphin Middle School, tied for 79th place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee last week in Washington, D.C. Vedika is the 2026 champion of the Central Pennsylvania Spelling Bee sponsored by WITF and Pennon Education. That competition involved 34 spellers from local schools and lasted 16 rounds.
By Katie Knol -
Commonwealth Media Services
Shapiro pitches data center incentives, not regulations, as budget deadline approaches
By Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA -
Whitney Downard
Nurse practitioners renew push for independence from physician oversight in Pa.
In Pennsylvania, Certified Registered Nurse Practitioners must have a written collaborative agreement with a licensed physician to work.
By Whitney Downard, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Pa. House passes school cellphone ban
The state House voted Monday to ban student cellphone use during the school day by the start of the 2027-2028 school year.
By Ian Karbal, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Matt Rourke
Elder abuse agencies reject cases experts say they should investigate as state scales back oversight
By Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA -
Ted Shaffrey
Pa. Sen. Katie Muth introduces bill to prevent data centers from becoming public utilities
Sen. Katie Muth (D-Chester) published a memorandum Thursday seeking cosponsors for a bill that would amend the Public Utility Code to prohibit data centers from obtaining a Certificate of Public Convenience and becoming utilities.
By Peter Hall, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Ted S. Warren
Broadband internet access still lacking across the country, Pa.
Reliable internet now touches nearly every part of modern life, but access remains uneven in many rural areas across Pennsylvania.
By Staff
WITF’s political coverage will be biased toward two things: democracy and facts. We’ll create a citizens’ agenda of issues you want candidates to discuss, and base our coverage on those issues, not on candidates. We will be transparent and make decisions thoughtfully. We will center democracy in our coverage, so you’ll know when it’s being threatened or supported. We will avoid horse-race coverage. We will report facts to counter spreaders of mis- and disinformation. We will speak truth to power and follow the facts wherever they go.
The Morning Agenda – a podcast from WITF
Each weekday morning, The Morning Agenda will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
