THE media lost readers when journalism became too safe and stopped asking difficult questions, The Fiji Times editor Fred Wesley says.
Wesley said years of media restrictions had changed newsroom practices and weakened the relationship between news organisations and their audiences.
He said journalists became increasingly cautious about challenging Government statements, questioning decisions and pursuing stories that could attract scrutiny.
“Our journalism became safe, and let me say this: safe journalism is quite boring,” he said.
He said newspapers often reported press conferences word for word, printed Government statements without challenging their authors and focused on official activities.
“Readers subsequently turned to social media, not necessarily because it provided better information, but because it offered debate and opportunities for people to participate.”
He said the media did not lose its audience simply because social media emerged, but because it had stopped producing journalism that people considered worth reading.
He said when mainstream media became quiet, people built their own information networks, even when these lacked standards and reliable evidence.
