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Panel Discussion: ‘Where to Now for Press Freedom?’
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Jyoti
5:54
5:56
Ramos talks about the role of social media and advertising in spreading information. He probes Montgomery further, "How much weight do we put on editorial freedom? How do we support independent journalism?"
5:58
John Montgomery agrees with Ressa's point about algorithms leading one to the content that subscribes to one's point of view. He adds, "There are news deserts — areas without local newspapers. Without local newspapers, people get their news from social media, which is disconcerting. People turn to social media when they don't have local newspapers."
5:59
6:00
He says that he has tried to promote and remonetise local news but marketers are concerned about the risks that it poses. "It degrades the integrity of the internet and that's bad news for marketers, because marketers don't want to advertise on platforms without integrity," he explains.
6:01
He emphasises, "We, as the news industry, have to give marketers hard evidence of the effectiveness of news."
He remarks that he, sometimes, sees the inevitability of social platforms taking all the revenue. "Things are really bad but there are not many solutions around," he adds. He emphasises the need to work together, to leave competitive differences aside and to provide marketers empirical evidence.
6:05
Ramos adds that criticism should be blended into the social responsibility that companies have.
Ramos puts out the question for all the panelists : "Where are the areas we need to stay more vigilant? And how has the COVID pandemic affected the industry?"
6:06
Lima responds: "Never will I be able to make the difference between economic support and the responsibility of the journalists."
Are advertisements a good source of revenue for news agencies?
Yes (58.3% | 7 votes)
 
No (16.7% | 2 votes)
 
Maybe (25% | 3 votes)
 
Total Votes: 12
6:07
She asserts that the additional enemy of freedom of press is misinformation. "The pandemic has had a huge economic impact. We have to try to work harder and secondly, find more positive news." adds Lima.
6:08
She opines that too much negativity in the news is not desirable.
6:09
She ponders on the "new challenges with new technologies." While she acknowledges that with social media, anybody with a phone can share anything they want, she states, "Journalism is the only source for credible information."
6:13
Ressa says, "I'll pick up on what the others said." She explains the reason why news platforms do not get huge numbers like Facebook. "In USA, 69% of the people get news from social media," she states. She raises her concern, "Lies spread faster than news in social media. People are more likely to retweet a lie than boring news."
6:15
She exhorts the journalists to become the gatekeepers who can protect the public sphere and facts.
6:16
Ressa emphasises the importance of doing so, "Lies can kill, especially in the time of COVID."
"Advertising in our world is not like on social media where people are individually manipulated," she alerts the audience.
6:17
John Montgomery responds to Ramos's question: "We could talk for ages about this, it's very very interesting. We'll never have the data to compete with the big social platforms, but neither do we need it."
6:18
"Advertising on a local newspapers is all about trust. Even if Google and Facebook takes a chunk of the revenue, there'll be some left for us," he remarks.
6:19
He asserts that data could be used in a positive sense, but he thinks instead of doing so, it is being manipulated by a few.
6:24
Montgomery elaborates, "To create tools and justification that news is effective, there's technology available right now that would allow advertisers to advertise. You can advertise while supporting newspapers. Big platforms have technology and tools for advertisers that many newspapers cannot provide."
He says, "We must figure out how to provide advertisers the choice to advertise where they want to. Let's get together and develop that technology to offer to advertisers!"
Ramos says: "I have realised, in the several years that I have attended these events, when we talked about press freedom, it was about authoritarian government and mafia. I can't think of one, where we talked about social media. And I think that it is a scary prospect, with the status quo, in which social media affects journalism."
6:25
He raises a grim question. He asks, "We all want 2020 to end. But I don't think 2021 is going to better. So is there any cause for optimism?
6:28
Lima replies: "The first thing is, what should motivate most, is that as long as we can raise our voices, I think, the voice in itself should make it easier to go on, and get out of this crisis and all the things the world has to cope up with, especially economic."
6:29
She moves her second point that journalists have to use the new technologies to their advantage to continue spreading news.
6:30
Ramos moves to Ressa next who has been embroiled in legal troubles. He asks her, "So do you see 2020 with some optimism?"
6:32
Do you believe that journalism will improve in 2021?
Yes (55.6% | 5 votes)
 
No (33.3% | 3 votes)
 
Maybe (11.1% | 1 vote)
 
Total Votes: 9
6:34
Ressa says: "I have three reasons to be optimistic. I think, globally, journalists have done their job - upheld facts , standards and ethics." She talks of her company, Rappler, a fact checking partner of Facebook in the Philippines. She remarks, "Technology is here to stay. It isn't in their interest to kill democracy. In 2019, it was horrible for me with all the arrests, but Rappler made some money despite that."
6:35
Ressa shares the lesson she has learnt: "Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate - it's a bright new world."
She considers that, as truth tellers, journalists have to bring in civil society.
6:36
She asserts, "We need to ask what we are willing to do for the truth. We all sacrifice a lot to keep democracy alive."
6:40
Montgomery, on being asked his top three reasons to look forward to 2021 remarks, "The fact that it is not 2020! There's always a new dawn."
He says that the bravery and commitment of Lima and Ressa are inspiring for him. "We need to get more feet on the ground, more people in local news and we have some solutions that can help local newspapers in particular."
He opines, "The people running these big social media companies are not bad people. Social media has grown like weed and they are not in full control of the beast that they are riding."
6:41
Montgomery says that he knows they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to address the issues. He elaborates that there are a number of organisations, like his own organisation, working with them to address the previously discussed issues. "Everybody is working very hard to make elections as free of disinformation as they can. It's a good thing that it has grabbed people's attention," he adds.
6:42
Ramos thanks the panelists and everyone who is watching.
6:43
6:45
Thank you for tuning in!
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