City’s Journalism Department welcomes Maria Ressa and Glenda Gloria of trailblazing Filipino news site Rappler to discuss the future of the news industry – and democracy.

By Eve Lacroix (Senior Communications Officer), Published

“As you walk into a career in journalism, you will have to push to make sure facts exist,” said Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa to journalism students at City St George’s, University of London this week.

She was joined by Glenda Gloria, her co-founder and successor as Editor-in-Chief of the trailblazing Filipino digital news site Rappler, for the panel event “The future of journalism and democracy in the age of AI”.

The talk was moderated by City’s Professor Julie Posetti, who has been researching Rappler’s transformation and struggles for a decade. She has been recognised by the  United Nations (UN) as an expert on digital threats to journalists and disinformation.

The event was hosted in partnership with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ), where Professor Posetti leads research, and it targeted aspiring journalists and their City educators.

“I’m so happy you’re still here, that you want to be journalists,” Maria said to the students. “That’s why we got off a 24-hour flight to meet you.”

Three women sit in chairs and address an audience
Left to right: Glenda Gloria (Executive Editor, Rappler), Dr Julie Posetti (City), Maria Ressa (Nobel winner, CEO of Rappler)

The 250 audience members included a number of high-profile guests, such as Christopher Wylie, who was a whistleblower while working for Cambridge Analytica and The Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who reported on the scandal. Prominent South African editor, Branko Brkic was also in the audience.

Social media algorithms: different feeds, different news, different realities

Maria Ressa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 in recognition of her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression and counter disinformation in the Philippines – holding the Duterte regime to account.

This stance led her to a “criminal cyber libel” conviction. She continues to face decades in jail and has chronicled her battles in the 2021 book How to Stand up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future.

Maria believes that “journalism is an antidote to tyranny.”

She sounded the alarm that 2024 was the year “democracy will fall off a cliff” if tech oligarchs are not held accountable for enabling the erosion of press freedom and democracy.

Describing the way in which social media algorithms have altered the way people access the news, she said:

An atom bomb exploded in our information ecosystem.

Big tech has personalisation. Your reality is made for you, and it is no longer just targeted ads, but systems of thoughts and values. This leads to polarisation through the algorithm.

The UK understands this because of the polarisation of Brexit.

Reports show that trust in the media is at an all-time low. If people cannot trust journalists, then Maria says “everyone is lost” as they do not know what to trust.

Those seeking out information may instead head to TikTok, YouTube and X, platforms that are more concerned with making profit than applying fact-checking processes.

A study found Boomers and older generations share misinformation online at nearly seven times the rate of social media users under 30. However, Gen Z, considered to be “digital natives”, are not immune to believing misinformation. In the 18-34 age bracket, 6 out of 10 young Americans get their news from TikTok, which is hard to verify accurately.

“Because of social media, people can’t always tell between influencers and journalists,” adds Maria.

In her role as Executive Editor at Rappler, Glenda hopes to create better information ecosystem literacy, especially among younger readers.

This is a step further than media literacy, as it encompasses an understanding of where information is found (the ecosystem, who owns the platforms, why they allow or block certain types of content) and of algorithms (which are tailored to each user).

Using tech to your advantage in the media

There are positive uses for AI in the media.

Glenda explained that Rappler uses AI to convert longform news articles into shortform videos, and to create summarisation of investigative reports by pulling out the top bullet points.

This process allows Rappler to better reach its users while letting her reporter spend more time on the field reporting. The platform has strict rules around only training its AI on its own content.

Offering advice to students on a future career in journalism, Glenda said:

No newsroom is perfect.

Join a newsroom, fight your battles and find your story to tell.

One story can make a difference.

Maria added:

You must learn the tech to beat the tech. The difference is that when journalists are using this tech, it isn’t to sell stuff.

Inspiration spreads as fast as anger. We need to go beyond journalism and understand how we behave, how we are being affected and manipulated by these systems and reclaim our rights and agency.

Get out of virtual world and into physical world. Create communities of action. Don’t let your energy and idealism be frittered away.

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