ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: A rising tide of fake news and disinformation is dominating World Press Freedom Day discussions taking place this week in Ethiopia, which is hosting the event after freeing jailed journalists as part of sweeping reforms.
As the world prepares to mark the day on Friday, media practitioners and experts have raised the alarm and deliberated on ways to combat disinformation that they say is becoming a “threat to democracy.”
The relationship between the press and democracy is the main theme this year, with more than 100 events taking place around the world.
“In my country, Somalia, disinformation is so rampant to the extent that some candidates were falsely alleged to have died or withdrawn right before elections so that their competitors were given more chances of winning,” said Hussein Abdi Adam with Somalia’s electoral commission.
“Everybody is using phones these days. And it’s becoming more difficult to deal with it as many of those engaged in this disinformation are based in various parts of the world.”
Ethiopia is drafting a law to deal with hate speech and disinformation, said Billene Seyoum, the press secretary for the East African country’s reformist prime minister.
“This law really won’t curb citizens’ freedom of expression but it rather will safeguard their right to access accurate information and ensure their safety,” she said. “Disinformation is lethal. It also creates fear and divides societies and communities.”
This year’s World Press Freedom Day is being held for the first time in Ethiopia, a country that had been infamous for jailing journalists until new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed power in April 2018. His government set several dozen reporters free.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopia currently has no journalists behind bars and new publications are flourishing on various platforms. Since Abiy came to power the country has unblocked over 260 websites and journalists who had been banned returned home.
But the media organization noted that challenges still remain for journalists in Ethiopia, including the risk of attack and arrest, especially in restive regions.
“Perhaps most fundamentally, journalists told CPJ they are anxious for the freedoms they are enjoying to be rooted in law rather than guaranteed only by the goodwill of the Abiy government,” Muthoki Mumo, CPJ’s sub-Saharan Africa representative, noted this week.
On Thursday, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize is being awarded to jailed Myanmar journalists Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone by Ethiopian and African Union officials. The Reuters journalists are serving seven-year prison sentences for their reporting on the military’s brutal crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.
This month the One Free Press Coalition is highlighting the Reuters journalists on its “10 Most Urgent” cases along with missing Tanzanian journalist Azory Gwanda, detained Nicaraguan journalists Miguel Mora and Lucia Pineda, imprisoned Indian journalist Aasif Sultan and others.
World Press Freedom Day events raise alarm on fake news
World Press Freedom Day events raise alarm on fake news
- According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Ethiopia currently has no journalists behind bars and new publications are flourishing on various platforms
- The relationship between the press and democracy is the main theme this year, with more than 100 events taking place around the world
Saudi Media Forum urges ethical coverage as crises redefine Arab journalism
- Raw news without context can mislead audiences and distort credibility, experts say
RIYADH: Arab media was born in crisis and shaped by conflict rather than stability, Malik Al-Rougi, general manager of Thaqafeyah Channel, said during the Saudi Media Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Al-Rougi was speaking during a panel titled “Media and Crises: The Battle for Awareness and the Challenges of Responsible Coverage,” which examined how news organizations across the region navigated credibility and professional standards amid fast-moving regional developments.
“Today, when you build a media organization and invest in it for many years, a single crisis can destroy it,” he said.
Referring to recent events, Al-Rougi said that he had witnessed news channels whose credibility “collapsed overnight.”
“In journalistic and political terms, this is not a process of news production. It is a process of propaganda production,” he said. “The damage caused by such a post … is enormous for an institution in which millions, perhaps billions, have been invested.”
When a media outlet shifts from professionalism and credibility toward “propaganda,” he added, it moves away from its core role.
“A crisis can work for you or against you,” Al-Rougi added. “When, in the heart of a crisis, you demonstrate high credibility and composure, you move light-years ahead. When you fail to adhere to ethical standards, you lose light-years as well.”
Abdullah Al-Assaf, professor of political media studies at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, said that in many crises across the Arab world, agendas and directives had often prevailed over professionalism.
“Credibility was buried,” he added.
Hasan Al-Mustafa, writer and researcher at Al-Arabiya channel, said that raw information could be subject to multiple interpretations if not placed within a proper political, security, historical or geographical context.
He added that such an approach was urgently needed during periods of political and security volatility in the Middle East.
When, in the heart of a crisis, you demonstrate high credibility and composure, you move light-years ahead. When you fail to adhere to ethical standards, you lose light-years as well.
Malik Al-Rougi Thaqafeyah, Channel general manager
“This objectivity, or this reliability, is a great responsibility,” Al-Mustafa said. “It is reflected not only in its impact on the audience, but also on the credibility of the content creator.”
Al-Mustafa warned against populism and haste in coverage, saying that they risked deepening crises rather than providing informed public perspectives.
He also said that competition with social media influencers had pushed some traditional outlets to imitate influencer-driven models instead of strengthening their own professional standards.
“Our media has been crisis-driven for decades,” he said, describing much of the region’s coverage as reactive rather than proactive.
During a separate panel titled “The Official Voice in the Digital Age: Strategies of Influence,” speakers discussed how rapid technological and social changes were reshaping the role of institutional spokespersons.
Abdulrahman Alhusain, official spokesperson of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce, said that the role was no longer limited to delivering statements or reacting to events.
“Today, the spokesperson must be the director of the scene — the director of the media narrative,” he said.
Audiences, he added, no longer accept isolated pieces of information unless they were presented within a clear narrative and structure.
“In the past, a spokesperson was expected to deliver formal presentations. Today, what is required is dialogue. The role may once required defense, but now it must involve discussion, the exchange of views, and open, candid conversation aimed at development — regardless of how harsh the criticism may be.”
He said that spokespersons must also be guided by data, digital indicators and artificial intelligence to understand public opinion before speaking.
“You must choose the right timing, the right method and the right vocabulary. You must anticipate a crisis before it happens. That is your role.”
Abdullah Aloraij, general manager of media at the Riyadh Region Municipality, said that the most important skill for a spokesperson today was the ability to analyze and monitor public discourse.
“The challenge is not in transferring words, but in transferring understanding and impact in the right way,” he said.
