How to safeguard your readers from misinformation

How to safeguard your readers from misinformation

Seeing the bigger picture: We live in an information ecosystem. Yet we hardly think much about the kind of information we’re being exposed (or not) to. Sean Gourley, founder of an AI business intelligence company shared why we should be more aware of it at the 2024 Digital Growth Summit.

How information is being manipulated: Gourley explained that “If you control the information space, you control the battle space”. The information space can be manipulated in different ways. For instance, our tendency to be wired to identify false positives (i.e. misinformation), but overlook false negatives (i.e. censorship) can be weaponized.

What can this look like? TikTok uses its algorithm to suppress widespread critical content about China. This steers user perception subtly as they might not think about whether all pieces of information are being presented to them.  

What role for publishers? People and organizations who play a role in educating people – including publishers – should take this role seriously in the age of AI. This is because only through education people can develop “cognitive security”, or the ability to think critically about the validity of the content.  

The impact of digital products on media revenue 

Setting benchmarks: INMA studied 43 media companies to analyze and compare publishers’ financial performance in 2023 with previous years. 

Digital products predict overall revenue: The study reveals that digital activities account for 51% of total revenues (median value). Notably, companies with a higher percentage of digital revenue experienced greater total revenue growth and improved profit margins in 2023, suggesting that investments in digital products are beneficial.  

The 7-7-7 framework: This study aligns well with Gert Ysebaert, Mediahuis CEO’s, 7-7-7 framework presented at the Mather Symposium 2024: He predicts that in 7 years revenue from print will go down from 70% to 30%, with digital revenue growing to 70% in the same timeframe. In short, publishers should continue to invest in digital products to grow their revenue. 

What makes good journalism? It depends on who you ask. 

What’s new? An academic study of audiences versus journalists’ perception of what makes good journalism was recently published. The interviews with 30 journalists and 64 audience members showed that there are noticeable differences between the two groups’ views. 

Journalist vs audience views: According to RQ1, Journalists saw the values of good journalism as “objectivity, independence, accuracy, and newsworthiness, or covering news in the public interest” whereas the audience saw it as “approachability, empathy, and skills in communicating clearly and in ways that emotionally resonate.”  

Why does it matter? The study highlights the need for newsrooms to continue their journey of taking the audience more into consideration when writing stories and designing products. It shows that the human touch is what the audience values in their journalism. Initiatives using the User Needs Model to put the audience at the center of their reporting are showing the way on how to produce more resonant journalism. 

Maximize reading sessions with NextGen Editions

Designed for mobile-first reading, NextGen Editions result in 30% longer reading sessions compared to Replica Editions.

With intuitive layouts designed for use on any screen size, our NextGen Edition offers a smooth reading experience with multimedia integrations and interactive elements.

🗞️ What we’re reading

• The Toronto Star shares how their experiment with micropayments is going.
• The Guardian sees mass donations as the US editor endorses Kamala Harris, amid The Washington Post and the LA Times not giving presidential endorsements. 
• This calculator tells you the carbon score of your news website and what you can do to make it better. 

Joris Gielen, Software Solutions Architect and Chapter Lead Data & AI, recommends the sci-fi TV show For All Mankind. What’s it all about? 

“It’s an alternative history starting from the 60s based on the question ‘what if the space race never ended?’. Each subsequent season jumps to the next decade. And they approach the science super realistically.”