Reporting Facts: Free from Fear or Favour

"Journalism today is under increasing threat as a result of government and private sector influence that endangers editorial independence and professional standards."

This In-Focus edition of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development seeks to assess the challenges, and the opportunities, facing journalism today. In particular, it outlines some of the key threats to editorial independence and professional standards, identifying media capture as by far the greatest threat. To ensure that citizens have access to independent and verified information published in the public interest, the report concludes with a number of recommendations for a range of stakeholders.

The report defines media capture as a form of media control achieved through a series of premeditated steps taken by governments and powerful interest groups that undermine journalistic autonomy and journalism as a public good. It describes in some detail how media capture can take place through four main areas: regulatory mechanisms governing the media, state-owned or state-controlled media operations, the use of state funding to control media, and ownership of privately held news outlets.

Additional threats to editorial independence are discussed and include: the undue influence of spin and public relations (PR) firms and the power of big advertisers. This has, for example, resulted in "churnalism", which is content generated through prepackaged PR materials combined with multiple news sources. Financial challenges have also pushed many media outlets to carry paid advertising, often presented as if it was authentic journalistic content.

The negative consequences of the internet on independent reporting are also highlighted. For example, the data-driven attention and advertising model of content distribution followed by giant internet companies has not only damaged a financially ailing media industry but has also pressured some media outlets to adopt a content distribution strategy focusing on sensationalist, viral content produced to grab attention. In addition, gender continues to remain a problem in the news media, skewing the meaning of editorial independence and leading to unbalanced and less diverse coverage. Editorial independence is also sometimes affected by journalists' own failure to follow professional norms and standards. "Conflict of interest, involving both financial gains and collusion with politics and at times stemming from a lack of adequate compensation and job security, damages editorial integrity and journalists' reputations."

The report makes the point that editorial independence and professional standards are expected to face more challenges in the coming years and discusses four key areas where this can occur: new forms of regulation, particularly those focused on internet governance, content, and data; an increase in state-administered media; the dominant role of governments in funding journalism; and the growing influence of other, non-news-media content producers, proliferating cheap and often false and misleading content (including misinformation and disinformation), which threatens to overshadow and even discredit journalistic production.

Looking at what is required to fight media capture, the report highlights what is already being done by civil society, journalists, international organisations, internet companies, and the media industry to mitigate the impact of media capture. For example, as explained in the report, "media outlets have been increasingly successful in experimenting with new financing models. Subscription, in particular, has proved to be one of the most resilient to 'capture'. Examples of solidarity among journalists, albeit rare, are especially important in today's increasingly polarized media environments where a financially-struggling independent journalism field is often pitted against a well-funded, government-backed, propaganda-driven media sector. Journalism carried out by decentralized, cross-border investigative networks remains a powerful example of reporting that escapes many of the constraints of captured media environments. The response of civil society, manifested mainly through advocacy and public protests, has sometimes forced economic and/or political elites to step back from control. Advocacy from various international organizations including intergovernmental bodies, and or global NGOs [non-governmental organisations] has helped to boost transparency of ownership in various countries." Despite these positive trends, the report makes the point that more must be done, especially as the global crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is inflicting even more harm on independent journalism.

Anchored in research and inspired by good practices, a number of recommendations aimed at strengthening editorial independence and reducing the negative effects of media capture are offered. The recommendations are intended for state authorities, international organisations, internet communications companies, media outlets, journalists, media development and donor organisations, and journalism and training institutions. The following represent a selection:

• To allow for independent reporting and free flows of news, governments should move from a propaganda-based state media model towards a public service media model providing for a diversity of content and public interest journalism.
• To ensure regulatory fairness for all media actors, the independence of media and communications regulators should be guaranteed by legal and practical mechanisms to ensure their political, organisational, and financial autonomy.
• To prevent distortion of the market and economic pressures used to control media outlets, laws and rules on fair and transparent allocation of government funding to media should be in place. This applies to subsidies, state advertising, or other forms of public financing, and it needs independent oversight mechanisms to ensure the rules are implemented.
• International intergovernmental organisations should encourage governments to include journalism among the financing priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensure the need for criteria of transparency, impartiality, and independent oversight on how those funds should be operated.
• Internet communication companies should promote independent reporting on social media, especially during times of crisis, when people need and seek true information.
• To boost resilience in the face of attacks from dominant interest groups and governments, journalists and media institutions should step up efforts such as establishing clubs, associations, or other forms of unions to foster solidarity in the journalism field.
• Where authorities are introducing disproportionately restrictive policies and regulations, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, media development and donor organisations should support grassroots NGOs that advocate against such measures.
• Tertiary and other journalism training institutions should reinforce their curricular content to prepare current and future journalists to cope with media capture, negotiate with power, and affirm journalistic integrity. This means spreading the knowledge and skills needed to protect editorial independence and to deliver ethical and professional journalism about the key concerns of the public.

Click here to read the report highlights in English.
Click here to read the report highlights in French.
Click here to read the report highlights in Spanish.