A simple but powerful question drove me to join HuffPost three months ago after nearly 15 years at The New York Times: What would it mean to create a news organization that saw itself not as writing about people who feel left out of the political, economic and social power arrangements, but for them?

This question is particularly pressing at a moment when trust in news is at a historic low. A survey by the Pew Research Center in the United States last year found that just 18 percent of respondents have a lot of trust in national media organizations. Since 1990, more than a quarter of a million newspaper jobs have vanished, most of them at local publications. Its hard to see journalists as the enemy of the American people, as Donald Trump put it, if you see them covering your high school football games and town council meetings. But with fewer local reporters on the ground, its no surprise that our audience trusts us less.

Like so many other industries, journalism has become highly concentrated in affluent urban centers. Yet I dont buy the caricature that the national press is a bunch of clubby elites many of us grew up in far-flung places with varied backgrounds. My father is a disabled vet, and my mother is an African immigrant. I went to college in part thanks to a Pell Grant, a government program available to only the poorest students. My grandparents on my fathers side were Goldwater Republicans .

And yet, in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, a lot of journalists are asking ourselves whether our audience should trust us. How were we so wrong? Are we out of touch? The Pew data tell us our audience had lost faith in us long before the first vote for Trump was cast.

This is a global phenomenon. Journalists didnt see Brexit coming. The rise of ethno-nationalism in Europe and Asia crept up on us. Were we paying enough attention to the long-gathering backlash against globalization, or to the looming fears that technology will eat up millions of jobs?

I think we can do better for people who feel that too much political and economic power has accrued to a very small elite. People who feel they are on the outside looking in at the prosperity created by globalization and technological transformation. That the game is rigged; that the deck is stacked against them; who feel that the house always wins. That definition includes many, many people who voted for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders . I suspect it also includes the majority of people who voted for Trump. It certainly encompasses voters on both sides of Brexit and the French presidential vote that took place over the weekend.

For me, the biggest divide in America, indeed across the globe, is between those who have power and those who dont, and that doesnt easily line up with our red and blue, left or right politics. The media has come up short in telling the story of one side of that divide of the people experiencing anger, voicelessness and powerlessness.

Facts and truth are basic elements of the news. But they alone are not enough. Emotion, humor and empathy are also essential ingredients of journalism that helps you know whats real. Its no wonder so many people these days get their news from comedy shows.

This is what drew me to HuffPost. As one of the very first digital media organizations, HuffPost pioneered a journalism of listening through its vast contributor network. It covered the world with verve and wit, connecting in deep and personal ways with its vast audience.

As we launch a brand-new name and look for HuffPost, Ive been thinking a lot about these questions. How can we become better listeners? How can we serve you, our audience, better? Were doubling down on our bold, splashy style, and serving up the news with a sense of humor, outrage and empathy. Were also taking the suggestion of our audience across the globe and formally adopting the shorter name theyve called us for years: HuffPost.