Journalism in the time of hate

Journalists must reclaim the public sphere from falsehood
For journalism, winning back trust is much more important now than sorting out its business models that are being undermined by digital disruptions. Journalists have an immense responsibility: they must reclaim the public sphere from deliberate falsehood, the disinformation avalanche, and algorithm-driven hate content. The word polarisation means different things to different readers, but it fails to capture the cleaving of our social fabric, the erosion of empathy and the power of information silos in denying space for dialogue and in amplifying prejudices. Mr. Tompkins and Ms. McBride believe that the moment a journalistic query turned into a statement, it provided an exit route to the President, who has a troubled relationship with the press. First, Mr. Acosta framed his question in a manner that could have elicited an easy ‘no’ for an answer: “Do you think that you demonise immigrants?” Mr. Tompkins and Ms. McBride are right when they suggest that a better question might have been: “How do you respond to the criticism that you are demonising certain types of immigrants, namely poor immigrants?” The wise counsel from the Poynter faculty applies to reporters everywhere: “Ask tough questions, avoid making statements or arguing during a press event and report the news, don’t become the news.” It is crucial to build and retain trust in journalism by using the tried and tested formula of newsgathering, adhering to the separation of news and views, and recognising the line that divides advocacy and reporting. This responsibility extends to the desk too. On November 14, this newspaper carried a report, “Yechury rejects idea of projecting Rahul as PM candidate now”. This was not a faithful reflection of the reporter’s copy. The headline was later modified for the Web edition as “Yechury rejects idea of projecting anyone as PM candidate now” to give a fair picture.
Source :  https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/journalism-in-the-time-of-hate/article25533929.ece

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