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“Journalists are the Defenders of Democracy, Freedom Fighters of the First Amendment and Savvy and Sophisticated Storytellers“. With this quote the lecture “When Facts Are Not Enough: How To Sustain Journalism In An Era of Disinformation” was started by Jennifer Thomas, Associate Professor of Howard University (USA), “Fulbright“ Program researcher, former executive producer of CNN, journalist expert, who on September 20th visited Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Using her more than 25 years of journalistic work experience, J. Thomas discussed freedom of the media and the challenges of disinformation in journalism – what and how is changing in journalism in the era of disinformation, platformization and artificial intelligence.
“Media is the Fourth Estate. Without it, democracy would collapse. However, we have too much disinformation, so people no longer know what is true and what is a lie, and as a result, the public’s trust in the media is also decreasing,” said J. Thomas.
According to the lecturer, disinformation creates a domino effect that no one can stop. “Ordinary people cannot simply knock on the door of the presidency and ask the supreme leader of the country why certain things are happening in their community. However, journalists can and must do this – i.e. to represent the needs of the community,” J. Thomas said.
The lecturer says that the problem is that in the age of disinformation, journalists have to deny lies and fake news, instead of focusing on and reporting what is really important and relevant to the community.
J. Thomas also notes that today journalists often broadcast their opinions and represent themselves, not the interests of the community. Even representatives of citizen journalism often are self-serving.
“This kind of content is attractive to audience and sells well. But because of it, we no longer know who to trust, because there are too many different opinions”, says J. Thomas and shares five tips.
“First of all, pay attention to the source and check the link. Also see who is the author of the content. Read “about us” section and familiarize yourself with the platform’s declared values and mission. And most importantly, be skeptical,” advises J. Thomas.
The author of the text is Kristina Berksun, photos VMU/ Jonas Petronis
