Newspaper readers and editors agree on the basics of good journalism, but readers desire looser rules for online conversations, finds a study on online news credibility.  

Reader and editor responses diverged most sharply on the topic of anonymous remarks: approximately 70% of editors surveyed said "requiring commentators to disclose their identities would support good journalism," a sentiment shared by only 45% of readers, reports the Associated Press.    

Readers were more likely to favor an online news model in which journalists engage in conversation and give their opinions, with only 36% of the public seeing this as detrimental to journalism, compared with 58% of editors.  

In contrast, the study found a general agreement amongst readers and editors on basic practices such as the need to ensure accuracy, the importance of fairness in news coverage, and desirability of depth, meaning providing links to other related material so readers can gain a fuller understanding of a story.

The Online Journalism Credibility Study was released April 8th by the Associated Press Managing Editors group and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri. Click here for the complete report.

According to John Bartosek, editor of The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fla., and chairman of the credibility committee for the AP managing editors group, sites that allow journalists to express personal views are perceived as more credible, a finding which runs contrary to journalism's traditional emphasis on maintaining complete objectivity.

Editors' reluctance to inject journalist commentary is understandable; it's a blurry line between expressing opinion and assuring fair news coverage (the study shows that readers want both).

So what to do to meet both demands? A possible solution can be found in the recently incarnated service Hubdub, which allows users to make predictions on the outcome of a given story (e.g. Barack Obama being elected president). Hubdub founder and CEO Nigel Eccles, who recently noted readers' desire for journalists to make predictions, said that Hubdub is now looking to distribute a continuously-updating widget that will display the state of the market ie. the percentage of users who believe that a certain outcome will come to pass (e.g. Obama will be elected).

By incorporating a Hubdub style widget in their news sites, editors could have their journalists rest neutral, while meeting readers' desire for opinion. The only difference: readers would get the opinion of thousands of other readers rather than that of single journalist.

Source: AP through IFRA Executive News Service