Journalism Today: 22 Nov 2024

By Matthew Leake and Marina Adami

🗞️ 3 top news stories

1. A thriving network of African journalists. More than 100 reporters across Central Africa have been trained in investigative journalism by the Museba Project to expoise the corruption, organised crime and human rights abuses in the region. One of the biggest challenges is persuading journalists to overcome their fear of conducting such reporting. Cameroon alone saw three journalists killed last year, six are currently in detention and attacks on the press are ramping up ahead of next year’s elections. Banding together freelancers in a regional network is intended to provide a layer of protection for the challenges they face. | Read

• A quote. “We show journalists that by collaborating, they gain time, have more protection, spend less money, and do more research,. It didn’t exist before. It’s our biggest asset,” says founder Christian Locka .

📚 From our archive. Cross-border networks of reporters are necessary to tackle the borderless nature of corruption and organised crime in Africa says Beauregard Tromp ,  Africa editor at the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project interviewed by our contributor Patrick Egwu . “[Criminality] robs us off tens of billions of dollars in money that should go towards development. And we know who these people are. These are criminals in suits and some of them are politicians and even heads of state. We have to expose this,” he says

2. US journalist protections under threat. A bipartisan bill designed to protect journalists in the United States from surveillance is under threat after president-elect Trump urged Republican colleagues to “KILL THIS BILL”. The PRESS Act, the Protect Reporters From Exploitative State Spying Act, would prevent the government from forcing journalists to disclose their sources through subpoenas or search warrants except in very rare circumstances. In a post on Truth Social Trump linked to a PBS interview with Jodie Ginsberg Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, who advocated for the bill.

• A quote. “We know that Trump is interested in going after whistleblowers, people who leak. And it’s absolutely essential that they are protected… and that journalists are allowed to do their job,” said Ginsberg

3. Felix piece. As AI becomes ever more present in newsrooms’ workflows, ethical questions about how to fairly identify content that is AI-assisted are becoming more pertinent, particularly when it comes to questions of trust. In a new essay by our researcher Felix M. Simon Simon, he looks at what the research says about transparency labels or ‘human-in-the-loop’ indicators when it comes to news created by AI. The piece suggests it may not always be straightforward when such approaches should be applied, nor will they necessarily allay audience concerns about the use of AI in news. | Read 

• A quote. “You cannot simply ‘hack’ your way to trust and acceptance around AI in news – and the same might be true in other contexts. And things have to be seen in context, too,” writes Felix.

📊 Chart of the day

🖊️What do audiences think about labelling? Close to half the audience members surveyed for our report on generative AI in news, published in May, think that, for some uses of AI for news production, it should be labelled that AI was involved. Audience members are more likely to think labelling is warranted for creative uses of AI, like generating images and writing article text, than for tasks such editing spelling and grammar. | Read the report

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The Reuters Institute is seeking a new lead author for the Digital News Report. If you are interested in the role, you’ll find everything to know in this link.

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✉️ From the Institute this week

Argentinian news outlets Clarín and La Nación have managed to achieve significant subscriber growth, even as the country endures a dire financial crisis, through metered paywalls, forming relationships with future subscribers, and, above all, quality journalism, writes Gretel Kahn, who speaks to those responsible for winning over paying customers. | Read

Nonprofit Nigeria Health Watch is training reporters in solutions journalism. Journalists received training and mentorship support to apply solutions journalism to reporting on health and beyond, writes our contributor Patrick Egwu. | Read

There’s no evidence that Swiss public service media is crowding out private media, according to researchers at Universität Zürich, using data from the Digital News Report. Instead, people who consume news from the public broadcaster are more likely to consume news from private outlets also. These conclusions are probably not unique to Switzerland, our former director Rasmus Kleis Nielsen argues, based on prior research findings. | Read

This week’s episode of our Fellowship Takeaways series looks at the importance of newsrooms platforming a diverse range of voices, particularly when it comes to Indigenous and global representation. | Listen

📚 One piece from our archive

Last year, we hosted investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, co-founder of the Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors (NAIRE), for a seminar on his work. The anonymous journalist, known for wearing beaded masks to cover his face, spoke about the dangers of investigative reporting in Africa and why collaboration is crucial. | Watch the talk and read a summary

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