It’s a tough time for journalists. They’re marginalized on social media, denigrated as elites by populists, sometimes murdered for being inconvenient witnesses (at least 42 as of 2024, sources vary), and now imitated by AI bots. While journalists are rarely undervalued, they continue to play a vital role in society.
World News Day, September 28, aims to refocus public attention on this role. It is an initiative of the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and a group of journalists led by: Maria ResaA Filipino-American, Nobel Peace Prize co-winner and director of investigative journalism. Rappler, and Branco BrickchiFounder and retired editor of South Africa Daily Maverick.
Ahead of the event, we’re sharing some thoughts on the topic.
“This is a global initiative to draw public attention to the role journalists play in providing credible news and information that serves citizens and democracies,” the CJF president said. Cash English From an article written for this event:
“Facts are complex and truth is not always self-evident. Journalism is not infallible. In a polarized world, too many people cannot even agree on facts and insist that truth is dead. This makes it more important than ever for responsible journalists and the public alike to understand what reliable, evidence-based information is. It’s not just a matter of delivering and consuming news; it’s about giving people the facts they need to navigate the world.”
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“This message could not be more critical or timely. In a world where we increasingly see fiction becoming fact and misinformation becoming mainstream, choosing the truth has perhaps never been more important or more difficult. For the public, this means the need to distinguish between real news and rumors and falsehoods disguised as facts, a task that is more difficult than ever in an age of AI-generated digital content and ‘bad actors’ who seek to foment public discord with malicious misinformation. For journalists, it means doubling down on our core principle of serving the public with truth based on thoroughly verified facts. (…) 2024 Digital News Report (Oxford University) Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism) says, “‘…most people around the world do not trust most news most of the time.'”
For his part, Marcelo Rezzipresident Brazilian Newspaper AssociationIt is argued that:
The media is not the answer to every dilemma of our time, but imagine a world without it. Who will debug the difference between fact and rumor? How can we trust anything or any institution without the certificate of trustworthiness that comes with serious, independent journalism? Who will report the emergence of new cyber frauds that are causing people to lose their savings? Who will investigate corruption and other crimes when government agencies are slow or inattentive? Who will address the evils of Big Tech and the dangers that social networks pose to our emotional, political, and economic stability? Finally, who will expose the power of corrupt dictators and the threats to democracy?
Independent journalists are not immune to problems, starting with the sustainability of their own businesses. With a few exceptions, most serious media organizations survive with business models that struggle with the regulatory asymmetry of technology platforms. Because it is based on trust, no organization can survive by abandoning ethics or making the notions of truth and accountability more flexible than Big Tech allows.
So it’s only fair that these platforms pay a “support fee” to clean up the social pollution that threatens the mental health and stability of the planet.
“Everyone’s eyes are focused on the elections and major events,” an Egyptian journalist observed. Fatema Para. For the founder and director Wellard Elbalad Media, democracy is built above all at the local level. “Thanks to the hard work of dedicated journalists who work every day to provide information about their communities”:
This is not an easy task. Building, managing and sustaining local public service journalism that can play a vital role in supporting local communities is often a rewarding task. Across the world, the journalism business is under threat from big tech companies, and funding is drying up. Jobs are being lost, quality is being compromised, resources are being dispersed, and the value of journalism is constantly being debated. (…)
And the very people we seek to serve seem increasingly weary of misinformation/disinformation campaigns. Audience distrust and wariness are a daily reality. (..) We have seen firsthand the dangers to democracy posed by the loss of independent, especially local, media. We are now convinced that the survival of a diverse and capable media sector is a cornerstone essential to the pursuit of humanity and freedom. (…)
There are already examples of people capturing this moment. Some are journalist-owned media outlets, others are printing and producing products, and many are practicing community involvement. And this is just a small part of what is happening now.
Fabrice PrizeCEO’s Agency France-PressContains a sobering analysis:
We are no longer surprised that “fact-based journalism” is branded a front for collusion with the establishment, nor are we surprised that those who make it their business are sometimes asked to take sides and abandon neutrality, which of course is only a sham. (…)
Polarization undermines the legitimacy of such companies, and worst of all, this process of delegitimization is already showing clear results.
He argues that several trends are responsible for the decline in trust in the media: understaffed newsrooms, “the transformation of search engines into disintermediating media response engines through AI,” “the polluting of the media ecosystem with AI-generated ‘cheap news,’” “destabilizing campaigns,” “hundreds of thousands of accounts being deleted from online platforms,” and “massive daily disinformation.” Fries isn’t surprised at all. “What surprised us, on the other hand, was how little response this has generated. (…) Often, what emerges from the stories of journalists going through these ordeals is how alone and helpless they feel.”
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