By Jessica Castro Burunate, Cuba.

My neighbor doesn’t trust independent digital media anymore. She is 55 years old and recently discovered the internet. The first news she had from one of these new media was terrifying. COVID-19 was, supposedly, leaving dead people in the street and the Government was hiding it. The news turned out to be false. 

But, why these media are risking to lost legitimacy and potential readers? Maybe is just bad journalism, or they are trying to induce disinformation, or, perhaps, their own polarization played against them. 

The photo that led to the news first appeared on social media. It presented a good opportunity to get an attractive headline that would play in favor of their counter-government agenda. 

They never checked to see if it was true, only collecting a citizen’s demand. But, at the end, they amplified a fake news. This is bad practice.

Polarization in the media is a growing phenomenon, even for those who uphold the card of objectivity. The mediatization of politics has become a game in which we all play a role, sometimes because it pays off. 

If you want to do credible journalism, you must know how this can affect you:

You need to be aware that you are constantly at risk of producing or reproducing false news or amplifying it.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to reach and impact polarized audiences, predisposed to misinformation, and radicalized.

And, the most important, readers’ confidence in the media is getting lower and lower. 

According with the latest Digital News Report of Reuters Institute, even before the coronavirus crisis, “more than half of our sample said they were concerned about which news are true and which are false on the internet. In our January poll, fewer than four in ten people (38%) said they trusted most news most of the time – a four percentage point drop from 2019. Less than half (46%) said they trust the news they consume.

And most have established that they prefer a more objective or neutral journalism. The survey shows that the majority (60%) still prefer news without a specific point of view and only a minority (28%) prefer news that shares their point of view or reinforces it.

The preference for more partial news is stronger in Spain, France and Italy, countries that academics have described as “polarized pluralists”, and also in the United States.

However, the neutral position not always is a good play and can also work against you. 

If you talk about climate change, for example, is clear that you have to be in the side of science. It is not helpful to show the other side on an issue that is already surrounded by too much polarization and misinformation. 

Also, taking a clear position can help you with certain audiences, who prefer a pact of honesty. The Reuters report shows that younger groups in particular like approaches and treatments with a clear point of view.

And that should not affect journalistic rigor and certain ethical principles that go with the responsibility of the profession. We have feminist journalism as a clear example of a professional exercise with very high standards and with a declared agenda. 

How can we get out of the polarization game? Here are some tips:

• Verify the information even from sources that you consider credible.
• Also check what is going on in the side you do not consider legit; just to have some background information and avoid certain surprises.
• Avoid polarizing narrative: “them against us” or antagonizing storytelling, stigmatization, and cancelation of the other as a valid interlocutor.

Be careful with the use of stereotypes. I know this can be conflicting, especially when used in the voice of the sources. Many times we are not aware of the discriminatory burden that we carry. 

If you are in doubt of a discrimination issue it is always useful to check with someone with experience in minorities’ treatment or groups historically discriminated. But for a quick tip, if its singles out and separates “them” from you, there is likely a stereotype at play. The use of absolutes is also a problem. 

• Do not place a questioning or doubtful tone, when there is no indication that nothing else is happening.
• Commit to use inclusive language. This is a good step to be respectful with diversity, and not run the risk of repeating forms of violence and discrimination that occur in language. A gender editor could be very useful.

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This blog entry was created in the RNTC course ‘Producing Media to Counter Disinformation’. You can also sign up for this course! Click here!