Journalists are at the frontline of the digital revolution and need to adapt to new technologies while also maintaining their core mission of informing, investigating, and upholding public interest.
This is according to former journalist and current First Secretary (Trade and Economic) at the New Zealand High Commission, Adham Crichton while speaking during the World Media Freedom Day celebration in Suva last week.
He said the advent of AI was expected to significantly alter the media landscape, with both benefits and threats.
“AI provides powerful tools, on one hand, which can assist with your work, automating research, analysing data and even generating some content but with these advancements also come threats,” Mr Crichton said.
“There’s a spread of deep fakes, bias within the algorithm, and the potential for misinformation to be created faster than it can be verified.
“Journalists do more than just report facts, which is what AI can do.”
He said misinformation and disinformation had, to some extent, continued to erode the public’s trust in the media and to be used as a pretext for repression.
“Powerful companies, including social media platforms, have not always taken adequate steps to promote information integrity or pay fairly for the content that you produce.
“Many media outlets are struggling to remain financially viable and face challenging business environments with dwindling advertising revenue.
“Now, AI seems set to shake up the industry.”
Mr Crichton said that at the end of the day journalists were not only watchdogs of governments and corporations in the town hall, “but also the very technologies that are shaping our society and your profession”.
