#PressFreedom — why a free and independent press is more important than ever before
Jonathan Harley, who leads Canva’s News Industry initiative, reflects on the importance of a free press and the role Canva is playing in newsrooms around the world.
Jonathan is a former foreign correspondent for ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and Supervising Producer for 60 Minutes Australia. On World Press Freedom Day, he delves into why a free and independent press is more important than ever before and how Canva can help support news brands in overcoming the new challenges a post-COVID era is placing on the media landscape.
Over the last year, as we’ve watched COVID-19 unfurl and turn life on its head, we’ve been reminded that truth, facts and trust are essential ingredients of a healthy civic society. During this pandemic, our societal health has been absolutely, and rightly, focussed on keeping citizens safe and with equal access to medical services and care in an effort to provide a strong health economy.
We’ve also been reminded of the essential role of another type of health: the quality and reliability of information. The trust economy. Underpinned by robust and independent journalism, strong and sustainable news businesses are essential ingredients to a healthy information ecosystem. The confidence we have in what we view, read and listen to goes to the very soul of society; trust in our institutions, and each other, is our social glue.
However, in recent years trust and truth have been up for grabs.
Truth, it is famously said, is the first casualty of war. I have seen this first hand — as a one-time correspondent covering the endless arm-wrestle between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory of Kashmir, to the US-led campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, it has been the war on truth itself over the past decade that has led to a weakening of the trust economy.
Marty Baron, executive editor at the Washington Post, observes that one of the biggest challenges facing journalism this year is that societies can’t agree on a common set of facts.
“Traditionally, journalism relies on expertise, experience, education and above all, evidence to assess what’s true and what’s false. But expertise, experience, education and evidence are now routinely dismissed and denied. This is not only a challenge for journalism. It’s a challenge for democracy itself. What becomes of a democracy when large segments of the public inhabit an alternate reality — more bluntly stated, a world of myths and make-believe?”
Gina Chua, global managing editor at Reuters, adds with the rise of misinformation, the impact of social media and stark political divisions around the world, there is an erosion of public trust on the news industry, and sometimes outright harassment.
“Fact-based and impartial reporting is more important than ever. We’re also continuing to see challenges to a free press worldwide. It is critical that journalists are allowed to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
It does not stop there. We’ve barely scratched the surface with the issues and challenges wrestled with daily by media professionals everywhere — from capital city newsrooms to the lone, regional reporter. I do not write this professing to have all the answers, but I do know we need to champion journalists who are giving it their all to get us one step closer to the truth; to support a strong and healthy journalism industry.
My reporting days are well behind me, but I remain deeply invested in the future of great journalism and the health of the news economy. At Canva, we work closely with journalists and news businesses to help make their work better — in creating, managing and publishing content more quickly and easily. In the news space, it is not just about speed, it is also about defending and protecting the authority of news brands that have been built up over decades, if not centuries.
News brands are built on trust, integrity and independence. They, like public-interest reporting, are pillars of the trust economy. But first, you need your audience to be able to find you, so it is essential to ensure credible news sources can be clearly identified across the crowded audience ecosystem. An important area of our work at Canva is ensuring newsrooms can strengthen their brand consistency so the audience knows their news feed can be trusted, that their vetted information can be relied upon.
In strengthening the trust economy, powerful digital products supporting journalism and news businesses are an essential piece of the puzzle.
But it is still only one piece of the complex puzzle that spans the information ecosystem.
If we erode the trust economy, we erode society. Distrust is the oxygen of division — and we have seen all too clearly in recent years how the extremities of debate can drive deep and destructive social divides, as well as erosion of trust in our institutions.
Strengthening the trust economy strengthens society.
We cannot rise to the many challenges of our time without good journalism, healthy news businesses and a free and vibrant press. Information, ideas, healthy debate, the creativity needed to meet these challenges all depend on a strong ‘fourth estate’.
To this end, a free press underpins a free and prosperous world. Let us all value, celebrate and support this essential pillar of public life.
