It's news, but is it true?

It's news, but is it true?

The mainstream news industry has been gasping for air for some time now; lying alongside it in the jaws of death is the truth. But there will always be news. The industry is the medium, while news is the matter. Truth exists at its heart, a stern and no-nonsense master.

Even though the industry is undergoing cataclysmic change, news will always need a medium to live in. Today, social media platforms are climbing the ladder of power by controlling the most important resource: audiences. News has found its new servant, but its relationship with truth is turning more fragile. As news seeks to roam freely in the realm of its new servant, truth often goes missing.

Sprouting at unprecedented speed from the fertile ground of social media, a cornucopia of information -- and misinformation -- awaits curious minds and inquisitive eyeballs. This avalanche of information doesn't seem to need truth to thrive in our new culture of digital codependency.

Now the veil has been lifted and the true face of "news" has been revealed: its existence is mercurial, its ectoplasm can be moulded into any shape or form. Consequently, its authenticity cannot be trusted easily. Thanks to "democratisation of information", news is erupting everywhere, a lot of it available free of charge. But in a world of information hyperabundance, you can hardly tell truth from fiction.

In recent weeks, three stories took Thai social media by storm: tension between the US and Iran, a Chinese virus outbreak, and a savage gold shop robbery-murder in Lop Buri.

The floodgates of anxiety flew open and consumers were bombarded with updates, the "truth" of which was often questionable. Stories roamed freely across platforms, fuelling the frenzied imagination of their audiences. People speculated, shared and conversed about the topics, fed by a multitude of content on social media; its authenticity was hardly questioned. As quickly as one rumour could be shot down, another would spring up. Misinformation seemed to be winning.

Grimmer and more embarrassing was the fact that respected media outlets were actors in the drama, jeopardising whatever reputation they may have had by presenting unverified bits and pieces that could ramp up audience engagement. They trade factuality for fastness, and thereby played a part in the proliferation of misinformation and even fake news. Some picked up information from Facebook pages, as if presenting it under the brand of their news organisation would somehow make it believable, only to see the fraudulence exposed later.

Where is the responsibility, particularly when actual damage is done to those affected? No wonder public trust in news outlets has deteriorated.

Professional journalism and respectable news outlets have also succumbed to the drive for profit in a noisy and cluttered market. Advertising these days goes where it can find the most eyeballs. And what attracts that critical mass of the curious? Drama and sentimentalism.

Social media platforms now control most of the audience for news. Consumer behaviour has shifted. People tend to prefer speed and accessibility over trustworthiness and reliability.

In the fight to become relevant again, many established outlets are sacrificing integrity and quality for the instant gratification of receiving many likes and shares. They seem to forget that news organisations used to be respected because they were the gatekeepers who could set the agenda for what society should focus on because of their trustworthiness and integrity.

Even though news organisations are dying, their importance is more vital than ever, and I'm not saying this just because I'm a journalist. Amid the chaos of information overload, established media outlets need to be beacons of truth. They need to shelter the public -- and I'm not trying to be patronising here -- until they learn to become media literate.

They need to stand defiantly in the face of misinformation. When the public are dumbfounded and don't know where to turn, they can turn to you for the voice they can trust.

There's no harm in wanting audiences, but you can do so responsibly. Rise above cheap journalism and sentimentalism and don't sacrifice standards for ratings. Don't sacrifice quality for instant gratification. That practice is not sustainable and won't get you very far.

The news industry may be dying, but our integrity doesn't have to go down with it.

Patpon Sabpaitoon

News reporter

Bangkok Post news reporter

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