Written by Demesha Phillips
“When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what pow’r it has over my mind. . . . The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more are we dispos’d to look with compassion on perishing souls—[we feel that we want] to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our back . . . if you would have God have mercy on you, have mercy on one another.”— Joseph Smith.
When I read that quote, I immediately thought of a newsroom. Not because Joseph Smith was talking about journalism. This is because he was talking about people and news, at its core, is about people. In a world of 24-hour cycles, clickbait, and hot takes, we’ve forgotten that every headline has a heartbeat behind it.
Here’s what this 1800s spiritual prompt taught me about 2026 news writing.
1. Kindness Has Power Over The Mind
“When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what pow’r it has over my mind.”Words shape how we think. As communicators, we choose every day whether our words will harden someone or help them understand.“Local man arrested” and “Local father arrested after losing job, community rallies” can both be true. One invites judgment. The other invites context. Kindness in news writing isn’t about softening the truth. It’s about telling the whole truth in a way that doesn’t destroy the person living it. The smallest choice in tone can change a mind. That’s power. And with power comes responsibility.
2. Proximity Breeds Compassion“
The nearer we get to our heavenly Father, the more are we dispos’d to look with compassion on perishing souls.” The nearer we get to a story, the more human it becomes. It’s easy to write about “unemployment rates” and “crime statistics.” It’s harder to sit in the kitchen with the mom who’s 2 months behind on rent. When reporters do the work to get closer to more interviews, more listening, more context, we stop seeing subjects and start seeing souls. Compassion doesn’t mean bias. It means accuracy with empathy. It means asking: Who isn’t being heard here? What led to this moment?
3. Carry The Story, Don’t Crucify It
“We feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders and cast their sins behind our backs.”Everyone in the news is on their worst day. A mistake. A tragedy. A scandal. It’s easy to post, expose, and move on. But Smith’s words call us higher. To carry. To report the facts, yes. But also to give context, to allow for growth, to not leave someone buried in their lowest moment forever. “Cast their sins behind our back” in journalism means: tell what happened, but don’t weaponize it. Don’t let a headline become a life sentence.
4. Mercy Is The Editorial Standard
“If you would have God have mercy on you, have mercy on one another.”This should be on the wall of every newsroom and every content creator’s desk. We want grace when we make a mistake. So we extend grace when reporting on others. Mercy in news looks like: checking facts before posting instead of chasing virality; protecting dignity in photos, quotes, and descriptions; including solutions, not just problems; and giving voice to people who don’t have a PR team. We are all one bad day away from being the story.
Joseph Smith wasn’t giving media training, but he was giving a human rights training, and the best journalism follows that same rule. Tell the truth and tell it with kindness. Seek the facts and seek the people, too. Report what’s broken and carry the hope for what can be fixed. The world is drowning in news that wounds.
What if we committed to news that heals? Because at the end of the day, every byline is about someone’s son, daughter, neighbor, or friend. And they deserve to be handled with mercy.
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