London – This year, World Press Freedom Day is celebrated in the midst of a crisis that unites all the elements on the list of concerns of journalists, vehicles, organizations that defend freedom of the press, including media polarization.
There are physical threats in the war between Russia and Ukraine, where journalists are ambushed, tortured and killed. Criminal prosecution with a brutal law that punishes anyone who broadcasts fake news about war – or call it a war, not a “special operation”.
With the use of espionage tools and the widespread dissemination of political propaganda, there are cyber attacks. And there is something that Reporters Without Borders highlights in its 2022 World Press Freedom Index: media polarization points to American Fox News as a reference to that model, as the biggest risk to free journalism.
Media polarization: internal and external divisions
When opening the document, Bringing Brazil to 110th place among 180 countries, RSF points to the double effect of what it calls “increasing polarization with information chaos.”
In democratic societies, the development of opinion media based on the Fox News model and the trivialization of disinformation circuits powered by the operation of social networks causes divisions to increase.
At the international level, the asymmetry between open societies on the one hand and despotic regimes that control their media and platforms by waging propaganda wars on the other, weakens democracies. On both levels, this bipolarization is a factor in the intensification of tensions.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is an excellent (or very flawed) example of these concerns. The independent Russian media was almost extinct. All that remains is state tools whose content is frightening and which declares citizens who oppose the occupation of the neighboring country as enemies.
State media transcends Russia’s borders mainly through government-controlled networks like RT (Russia Today).
read more
State broadcaster Russia Today (RT) loses its UK broadcasting license
Or by international means, such as American Fox News, which, while not supporting the invasion as an editorial, allows commentators like Tucker Carlson to defend the indefensible. media exaggerated the news.
Polarization fueled by ‘public media’
This phenomenon does not occur only in the USA. Referring to Fox News, the RSF highlighted the growth of “opinion media” (opinion media, literal translation) especially in France.
RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire said:
“Media ‘Fox Reporting’ poses a mortal danger to democracies because it undermines the foundation of civil harmony and tolerant public debate”
Given that it is not a mistake for the media to express an opinion, as in columnists’ editorials and articles and discussion programmes, the best term to classify such a tool might be ‘disabled media’, which not only advocates but also defends an opinion. promotes arguments or is always in line with science or universal principles of respect for humanity.
In the UK, this proliferation comes in the wake of the divisions Brexit has caused in society. The country’s turbulent exit from the European Union has taken some of the jinn out of the bottle, including aversion to immigrants and contempt for other religions and cultures.
A TV station called GBNews was established in 2021 to give voice to those who advocate these theses and others such as ‘general salvation’ while the country is at the height of the pandemic crisis.
It didn’t take off from the audience, but it does feature radical figures like Nigel Farage, an idol of the far-right. And it has an audience, or it would have gone off the air long ago.
Hosting dissent is the essence of journalism. The difference between professional journalism that defends a political party, as in the case of British newspapers, and the Fox News model, which is criticized by the RSF, is the borderline between opinion and disinformation.
Tucker Carlson acknowledged that truth is not necessary in his work. In an interview, he said that he tried very hard not to lie and did not always succeed.
read more
“I try not to lie on TV,” says Fox News star and Trump “guru” Tucker Carlson.
While criticizing media coverage of the war, Carlson ignores the facts: the death toll, brutal attacks on civilians, and colleagues identified as journalists and even ambushed. And it confronts the viewer with correct reporting.
read more
Fox News: Reporter exposes injury in Russian attack, anchor criticizes media over war
Digital risks of press freedom
Press freedom organizations, the International Federation of Journalists, and international organizations such as the UN and UNESCO also drew attention to digital risks on two levels this World Press Freedom Day.
One is surveillance. Federation took action to prevent its use. spyware spying on journalistsas with increasing frequency.
The other is the effect of social media in polarizing and reinforcing hatred against journalism, which directly affects the freedom of the press as it intimidates professionals and in some cases results in physical attacks and deaths.
read it too
UN criticizes ‘increasing politicization’ of press and impact of social media on journalism
In Talking to Rebecca Vincent, RSF Director of Global Campaigns, During a meeting with journalists at the FPA (Foreign Press Association) this week, he took note of the ongoing regulatory initiatives in the UK and EU.
Vincent, who was at the forefront in the wake of the Julian Assange case, feels that regulation is necessary as “the times when there was hope that platforms would solve problems on their own are gone.”
However, he argues that freedom of expression should be guaranteed by protecting sources and the work of citizen journalists. The challenge is to find the balance point.
Dates like Press Freedom Day pass, words are lost in time.
But what expressions and, as the RSF brought up this year, news is vital not just for journalists, but for society as well. And it should not be forgotten until May 3, 2023.
read it too
source: Noticias
