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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New Hershey nonprofit helps mothers reconnect with themselves through dance
A new Hershey-area nonprofit is creating opportunities for new mothers to learn a new skill, spend time on themselves and connect with other women with free weekly dance lessons. Mothers on the Move (MOM) was founded this year by Vida Abedi, an associate professor in the department of public health sciences at Penn State College of Medicine.
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Haley O’Brien
PennDOT seeks input on yearslong rehab project of Harrisburg’s Market Street Bridge
PennDOT is finalizing plans for a project that will improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists on one of Harrisburg’s oldest bridges. -
What is kratom? Pa. doctors explain the risks of the increasingly popular substance
By Asia Tabb -
Haley O’Brien
As data centers expand, Lancaster County officials call for a pause and more local control
State Sen. James Malone and Lancaster County officials are urging the Pennsylvania Senate to return to Harrisburg and pass legislation that would allow municipalities to pause development data center development.
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Whitney Downard
Latest Pa. budget lacks home health nurse funding increase
Advocates said skilled nursing allows someone to participate in their communities, enabling children to go to school or adults to keep a job.By Whitney Downard, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Anjum Naveed/AP
AG Dave Sunday sues TikTok for ‘misrepresenting’ suitability for Pennsylvania teenagers
The state’s top prosecutor said the app is “intentionally designed … to be addictive to young people.”By Whitney Downard, Pennsylvania Capital-Star -
Amanda Berg
Pa. has quietly passed a law undermining a court decision on lucrative mineral rights
The $1B battle over mineral rights is 130 years in the making, and may only intensify.By Stephen Caruso of Spotlight PA -
Amanda Berg
Harrisburg’s free evening parking gets another year, but commissioners want proof it works
Dauphin County Commissioners have approved another year of free evening parking in downtown Harrisburg, but they want data showing how many drivers are taking advantage of the parking. Downtown business owners who spoke with WITF said the program is working, but they also say the cost and inconvenience of parking outside of the free hours remain a barrier for customers.
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Themba Hadebe
Central Pa. will see a partial solar eclipse today. Here’s what to know.
Central Pennsylvania will get a glimpse of a solar eclipse today when the moon passes between Earth and the sun.
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Haley O’Brien
Pa. Democrats kick off statewide tour tying Garrity to Trump
With Election Day less than three months away, both candidates for governor are ramping up their campaigns with strong messaging -
Justin Hicks
Pa. man with no public profile is top donor to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s PAC
The top donor to the super PAC of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has almost no online footprint, but is spending big to help his presidential ambitions and other Democratic governors.By Joe Sonka of Kentucky Public Radio and Jordan Wilkie of WITF News -
Jakob Lazzaro
Advocates hail DOJ move as win for UPMC patients who sought gender-affirming care
By Glynis Board, WESA -
Emily Reddy
ICE considering buying immigrant detention facilities, other options to maintain capacity in Pa.
Activists worry ICE might buy Moshannon Valley Processing Center or contract directly with GEO Group and cut out Clearfield County and its “minor” oversight.By Melissa Pérez-Carrillo of Spotlight PA State College -
Rebecca Blackwell
Central Pa. Head Start programs face major changes under Trump administration proposal
Central Pennsylvania’s Head Start programs plan to continue providing early childhood education and other services to low-income families despite proposed changes from the Trump administration that could significantly reshape the federally funded program.
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How AI is helping Pa. schools respond faster to threats
By Asia Tabb
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.