Practical tools

Step 1: Reconnect with your own values

Look at the Schwartz values map – available at commoncausefoundation.org. Identify your five most and five least important values. Notice where they sit. Do they lean more toward intrinsic (Benevolence, Universalism, Self-direction) or extrinsic (Power, Achievement)?

Step 2: Assess your current stage

Read through these indicators and consider honestly where most of your current practice sits. Most journalists recognise themselves most strongly in Stage 1 or early Stage 2 – this reflects the professional environment, not a personal failure.

Step 3: Identify your next step

At Stage 1: Begin noticing values in your work and other people's. For each story, ask: what values might this framing foreground?

At Stage 2: Deepen your understanding of your own values and your organisation's. Connect with others. Experiment with different frames.

At Stage 3: Deepen transparency practices. Seek greater alignment between personal, editorial and organisational values. Build and share evidence of the difference values-aware journalism makes.

During reporting

• Ask sources about their values as well as their positions: "What matters most to you about this?"
• Consider whether solution-focused or community-oriented angles are relevant and reflect the fuller picture
• If there is evidence of collective action, cooperation or community response, ask whether it belongs in the story
• Notice the language you're using: "residents" rather than "taxpayers", "people affected" rather than "locals caught up in"

After publication

• What values did this story foreground? Did that feel intentional?
• Did this story make the perception gap wider or narrower?
• What feedback did you receive from audiences, sources, colleagues?
• What would you do differently next time?

For editorial meetings

• What values does each potential angle for this story foreground?
• Are we defaulting to our usual frame and is there a reason to?
• What angles might connect to what truly matters to people on this issue?
• Are we using values honestly, or mainly to achieve a particular effect?

For planning discussions

• What patterns dominate our recent coverage in this area?
• Are there angles we consistently miss that would reflect more of what our audiences actually care about?
• What community relationships would strengthen our reporting here?
• Are we unconsciously foregrounding extrinsic values in our coverage of this area?

This guide is not arguing that economic, security or achievement framing is wrong – these are legitimate parts of reporting. The aim is to help journalists notice a possible default bias towards these frames, and to consider what a fuller picture could look like.

Use these questions to assess whether values are being used authentically – in your own work, or when analysing others'.

Is intrinsic values language being used to achieve extrinsic goals?

• Is values language mainly used in branding or headlines, while the actual journalism tells a different story?
• Is there a gap between the communities mentioned in an outlet's claims about values and those genuinely represented in the reporting?
• Are these values being highlighted more to support commercial or reputational goals than to reflect how the journalism is actually produced?
• Would the same editorial decisions be made if the values framing was removed?

Does the work use extrinsic framing to serve intrinsic goals?

• Is an economic argument used to justify something the journalist in fact judges to be important for reasons of care, equality or community?
• Does the framing suggest the subject only matters if it's economically useful, rather than valuable in its own right?
• Is there a gap between the evident motivation behind the story and the frame used to tell it?

A values circle is a small group (three to six people) of journalists who meet regularly to explore values in their work, share challenges and strategies, and support each other's growth. It is a community of practice, not a training programme.

How to start

Find colleagues in your organisation, freelancers in your professional network, journalists at other outlets doing similar work. A mix of roles, experience and backgrounds is helpful. Meet regularly, create a space for honest reflection without judgement, and maintain confidentiality about what is shared.

Traditional metrics – reach, clicks, shares – don't capture what values-aware journalism offers. The journalism industry is already moving toward richer measures of engagement, loyalty and impact. Values-aware journalism is aligned with these shifts.