Walter E. Hussman Jr., publisher of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, appeared on the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" TV show on Thursday to discuss trust in journalism.
He said trust has eroded because of a perception that there's too much bias in the media and not enough separation between news and opinion.
Hussman discussed his statement of core values, which is published every day in all 10 of WEHCO Media's daily newspapers, including the Times Free Press.
"Our role is not to divine the truth. Our role is to gather all the facts - verifiable facts - we can, give those to the readers, let them determine what the truth is," said Hussman, who also is chairman of the board of WEHCO Media Inc., which owns the Times Free Press and nine other daily papers.
Last month, Hussman and his family gave $25 million to the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which he graduated in 1968.
Hussman said at the time that the main reason the donation was made is because the UNC journalism school has endorsed and adopted the statement of core values.
The values include impartiality, credibility and thoroughness.
The school will be renamed the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media.