YOUR VIEWS: The vital role of local media
Trusted news in your hands
Last week the global news industry ran a Choose Truth campaign, with over 100 countries, hundreds of news organisations, media associations, and individuals highlighting the importance of fact-based journalism.
It built up to World News Day on Saturday in which publishers and editors hoped to encourage their audiences to continue supporting trusted newsbrands, like the one you are reading now.
And next month the UK News Media Association will be running its Journalism Matters week to showcase the best in campaigning reporting.
In an increasingly fractured communications landscape and a breakneck pace of change which will only accelerate in the new era of artificial intelligence, the importance of, and need for, trusted, reliable information will only increase.
More people derive information from social media than ever before, but not for nothing is it known as a communications Wild West because of overseas-owned platforms’ refusal to subject themselves to reasonable regulation.
But rather than an arid, sparsely populated plain, it is a jungle in which dangers are hard to spot in the dense undergrowth of misinformation. One result was the riots which followed the Southport murders, and another the speculation after the disappearance of Nicola Bulley at a Lancashire river.
Subscribe to receive our free email newsletters
We know many people access reliable news sources through social media, but all too often the platforms’ sudden, unannounced algorithm changes can cut off readers from trusted sources.
Social media platforms often claim to be facilitators of free expression, but on too many occasions they prove to be an inhibitor, with users often unreasonably blocked or banned altogether for reasons which are hard to fathom.
The only way through the thicket is with reliable news brands and we also know from independent research that consumers do come back to recognised news operations locally and nationally to verify information they may doubt.
Of course, in such an intense and ever-changing environment, mistakes do happen. But through fast, fair and free regulation, like the Independent Press Standards Organisation and the Advertising Standards Authority, speedy recognition and resolution of problems - far quicker than the courts - is an essential part of a media ecosystem on which the public can rely.
But if those trusted titles are no longer there, where will readers go? It is vital for the health of open, democratic societies that reliable brands with high visibility remain to help people through the social media jungle.
The news industry is nothing without its readers, listeners and viewers, and you can do your bit to make sure this title remains a trusted guide by continuing to read and subscribe.
John McLellan
Director
Newsbrands Scotland
Letters should be submitted to newsdesk@hnmedia.co.uk. Please include your address and a daytime contact number. You can also tweet us: @InvCourier or leave a comment on Facebook @invernesscourier
