Journalists grapple with audience distrust, hostility driven by disinformation

This photo shows reporters covering Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., presumptive president-elect, waiting for a press conference of his spokesperson Vic Rodriguez on May 11 at the BBM HQ in Mandaluyong City.

Philstar.com / Kristine Joy Patag

MANILA, Philippines — Lamenting that audiences have not only lost trust but have become adversarial towards journalism, journalists at this year’s Jaime V. Ongpin Journalism Seminar struggled to find solutions and answers to this existential problem faced by the profession which they partially blamed on disinformation.

According to a Social Weather Stations survey released in October, 86% of respondents recognized that "fake news" —  a term for misinformation and disinformation — is a problem. Many — 58% — identified social media influencers, bloggers and vloggers as peddlers of fake news about government and politics but 40% also said this came from journalists.

“What is existential when it comes to my reporting and our newsroom is this new dynamic with the audience, how participative it is. And not just participative but how the audience has become adversarial to the press as well,” said Rappler reporter Rambo Talabong, one of the seven panelists selected by veteran journalists for the talk.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/10/27/2219685/journalists-grapple-audience-distrust-hostility-driven-disinformation