Deutche Welle Global Media Forum, widely regarded as “the World’s Media General Assembly” is the biggest media event which attracts thousands of journalists, and other participants operating within the diverse media terrain across the world. Over two thousand participants from all over the world attended the 12th Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, including THE WHISTLER. The forum took place in Bonn Germany from 27 to 28 May 2019, under the theme “Shifting Powers”.
The organisers chose the theme of this year’s Global Media Forum to reflect the rise of populist ideologies around the world, and the changing dynamics affecting how information is produced, distributed, and consumed in the digital age, its challenges, and effects.
Peter Limbourg, Director General, Deutsche Welle noted in his opening address that Freedom of information is on the decline, while controlling access to information has become a tool of power for autocratic regimes who restrict the free flow of information, and at the same time using state-controlled media and social media to broadcast their own message and spread disinformation.
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The topics of discussion at the 2019 Global Media Forum couldn’t have been held at a better time, owing to the dire financial difficulties facing most media which affects their independence, global threat to press freedom, and attacks on the credibility of news medium not in tune with autocratic regimes.
Activities on day 1 of the Global Media Forum focused on the changing media landscape and where the risks and opportunities of these changes lie, broken down into four-part plenary sessions on ‘who got the power in the media landscape’, the future of local journalism, opportunities, and challenges of artificial intelligence in the media, and a keynote by Jaron Lanier on how social media change our communication.
WHO GOT THE POWER IN THE MEDIA LANDSCAPE?
The panel discussion explored the power Dynamics between the readers, journalists, and the content they create. The discussion highlighted the responsibility of the journalist to focus on what readers should watch, read and not what the readers want to read. The panel concluded that power in the media landscape resides with the content, and journalists and readers should be responsible for creating content through collaboration and co-creating using artificial intelligence.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND LOCAL JOURNALISM
Among the panellists that discussed the future of local journalism is Sa’a Ibrahim the Managing Director of Abubakar Rimi Television (ARTV), a local media based in Kano Nigeria.
The panel addressed the future of local journalism being the nucleus of developmental journalism, the challenges confronting local journalists while doing their job.
Another topic discussed artificial intelligence (AI) in the media. How artificial intelligence is changing the way news is produced and consumed using algorithms, chat-bots, and software.
HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGE OUR COMMUNICATION.
Jaron Lanier in his keynote on how social media change our communication made a case for a proper control of social media platforms by a ‘responsible party’ through a decentralized market-based communication systems, to fix the flaws on how tech companies respond to, and handle the flow of harmful information which possess the power to impact our communication, create fear, anger and paranoia that may trigger negative responses that threaten our societies. A system that can preserve freedom of speech, encourage quality contents, and preserve democracy.
MEDIA AND POLITICS: WHERE IS THIS LOVE-HATE-RELATIONSHIP GOING?
Second day of the Global Media Forum featured an interesting panel discussion on “Media and Politics: Where is this love-hate-relationship going?” The topic explored the relationships between the journalists and politicians in the changing media landscape. Citing the continuous quest by politicians to completely control the flow of information and leave the journalists to act as medium for information dissemination.
The panel noted that social media has handed control of the message to the politicians, as it has empowered them to become their own news sources. Through social media, politicians can directly reach their base with their message thereby side-lining the journalists in shaping the narratives.
In reaching a conclusion, the panel agreed that media outlets are no longer the exclusive sources of news stories and breaking news, but through objective reporting for the benefit of the society, the media can break the politician’s quest for monopoly of information.
JOURNALISM FOR GOOD
A parallel session moderated by DW’s Frank Hoffman has Prof. Janine R. Wedel and Ilya Lozovsky as panellists focused its discussion on “Shifting Powers and Democratic Accountability: the role of global investigative journalism.” The panel discussed the role of investigative journalists, and their importance in journalism for public good, acting in public interest to expose the activities of ‘Criminal services company” embedded within corruption-enabling systems which violates public trust.
AWARDS
Anabel Hernandez, A Mexican Investigative Journalist was recognised for her work in exposing corruption and impunity in her home country and received the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech award. Camilla Warrender and Anurag Wakhlu Co-founders of Newscoop, A news platform leveraging the power of blockchain technology, using artificial intelligence for news co-creation and global collaboration were chosen winners of the Global Media Forum Media Start-up bootcamp. Beating off competitions from five other finalists.