The 2027 National General Election is coming up, and there is fear now about how Mainstream Media will be competing against social media and unregulated platforms, especially with the trustworthiness of information being disseminated.
This question was put forward during a panel discussion at the recently held Pacific Media Partners Conference in Port Moresby city on the 2nd and 3rd of June.
The session was about how the Pacific Media can uphold ethical standards, counter misinformation, and protect editorial independence while maintaining trust. It was highlighted that ‘trust’ is something which the media is always trying to defend with every publication or said on air.
According to Mr. Stevenson – Head of Content from Vanuatu Broadcasting Television Corporation, ‘trust’ is probably the media’s most valuable asset. He says that if people don’t trust the media, then there is a big issue.
Referring to present situation and view with the media, he said that media is faced with a lot of misinformation, specifically social media during election times right across the Pacific Region.
“Social Media is something that traditional media will always fight with, not only because we need to maintain trust with people, but also in order to make sure that political leaders are held accountable. Because if people don’t trust the traditional media, then political leaders will get away with being accountable,” said Mr. Stevenson.
The Chief Editor of SIBC, emphasized that, social media can actually drive people’s choices. A classic example is making fake information about political affiliations, where they spread a lot of misinformation on social media that actually drives people’s thoughts, people’s choices about leadership.
Again, the mainstream media are reminded to make sure that the public are able to trust them. Media have to be accountable when reporting, and they have to be transparent as traditional media.
The panel also highlighted that, despite traditional media faces a lot of competition, especially from unregulated media, getting the people to trust traditional media and being accountable to the people is an essential tool for traditional media.
Mr. Scott Waide, a renowned Journalist, blogger, Podcaster and founder of Lekmak, thinks that trust has to do with journalists’ perspective when dealing with content and social media and also the perspective of what people think about the mainstream media.
“The thing is, about 10 years ago we realized that people were asking the opinions of journalists out about public stories. Because people trusted more the journalists and the information that he or she put out instead of just the media brand.
So, trust revolves around the credibility of the individual within the organization,” said Mr. Waide.
Nevertheless, social media and the introduction of new technologies, like the use of AI technology, are being used to ensure trust. It was revealed that journalists began using social media as an extension of the work they were doing to source further information or seek clarification and facts.
This then ensure credibility in the reporting work done by reporters and journalists in the media industry, and also ensuring that the information being disseminated is trustworthy.
