Riots remind us why local journalism needs to be protected — Owen Meredith
Local journalists are now on the frontline of the fight to protect society from AI-powered disinformation which much of the public feel ill-prepared to spot when it appears on their social media feeds.
He wrote in the wake of 10 days of violence on the streets towns and cities across the UK, with many riots fuelled by disinformation pushed through social media.
Local journalists found themselves reporting in real-time — as they are trained to do — on riots while at the same time fighting a tide of disinformation too.
Owen wrote: “As the rioting hopefully ends, much has rightly been made of the role of social media platforms churning out and amplifying misinformation, stoking fear, anger and confusion.
“Powerful AI tools can, at a stroke, create realistic-looking images, footage or audio which can be used to mislead or confuse. As we scroll through endless streams of social media posts, it is far too easy to be taken in by a snippet of misinformation, a glimpse of an edited photograph or an out-of-context video clip.”
Polling on behalf of the NMA revealed 91% of people believed local media campaigning on behalf residents helps to improve local communities, while research from Newsworks, another industry body, found that a majority of people were worried about ‘fake news’ but many were unsure how to spot it.
Owen added: “Professional journalism acts as the antidote to this kind of misinformation, exposing fakes and falsehoods for what they are. Journalists are trained to check and verify information, with further editorial checks and balances before it is published. News brands are subject to the law and a robust system of self-regulation, which together drive up standards across the industry.
“Social media platforms have none of these checks (and take none of the responsibility) — fake news is circulated and rapidly amplified, all the while generating huge profits for the companies that host it.
“If we are serious about dealing with the threat posed by fake news to our democracy — and the riots are clear evidence that we should be — then we need to recognise that professional journalism is a large part of the answer. We need to protect our journalists from the abuse and violence they face, both physically and online, and work to place the businesses that invest in journalism on a more sustainable footing.
“Local journalists are trusted by residents to tell their stories, giving a voice to those who might otherwise be unheard. And, in the aftermath of events that become national stories, it is the local reporters and newspapers who continue to be at the heart of those communities.”
