- UK watchdog bans Naomi Campbell from running charity over 'misconduct'
- Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire after truce bid fails
- Alcaraz, Medvedev win Beijing openers as Zhang scores big upset
- Bastianini sets record time in Indonesia MotoGP practice
- At least 3,661 killed this year in Haiti violence: UN
- French minister says in favour of adding 'consent' to rape law
- Workers remove Olympic rings from Eiffel Tower -- for now
- X says complied with Brazil court orders, should be reinstated: source
- Draper ready to take lead for British tennis
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- The Hezbollah commanders killed in Israeli strikes
- Shigeru Ishiba: Abe-critic wins Japan top job at last
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Draper ousts second seed Hurkacz at Japan Open
- EasyJet founder makes life hard for 'brand thieves'
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Ishiba, Takaichi face off in Japan ruling party vote for next PM
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- 595th-ranked Zhang stuns US Open semi-finalist Navarro in Beijing
- Cowboys halt skid with victory over Giants
- Indian artisans tackle waste with creative upcycling
- Morbidelli fastest in first Indonesia MotoGP practice
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Hardline French interior boss stirs controversy just days into job
- France rugby superstar Dupont checks out NFL's Chargers on LA 'vacation'
- Pope to meet sexual abuse victims in Belgium visit
- Gaza war resonates but has global diplomacy shifted one year on?
- Yankees down Orioles to claim 21st division title
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Madrid return to scene of last defeat for Atletico derby clash
- 'Dangerous' duo Wirtz and Musiala highlight Bayern-Leverkusen showdown
- Springboks rally behind under-fire Libbok before title decider
- Ailing New Zealand butterfly collector gives away life's work
- Mexico's new president takes reins of shaky economy
- 'Misinformation megaphone': Musk stokes tension before US election
- Australia eye strong start in bid to topple All Blacks
- Plan to overturn commercial whaling moratorium sinks in Peru
- Man City must solve Rodri riddle, Ten Hag vexed by Man Utd miscues
- Ricciardo thanks fans for 'wild' ride after RB axing
- US regulator urges safety checks on some Boeing 737 rudders
- Scheffler-Kim spat spices 5-0 US rout to open Presidents Cup
- 'I need to go': Floridians make final preparations for Hurricane Helene
- Japan ruling party votes for next PM
- Macron, Trudeau pledge common front on economy, language
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Athletics pay emotional farewell to Oakland in last home game before move
'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
From disinformation campaigns to soaring scepticism, plummeting trust and economic slumps, the global media landscape has been hit with blow after blow.
World News Day, taking place on Saturday with the support of hundreds of organisations including AFP, aims to raise awareness about the challenges endangering the hard-pressed industry.
- 'Broken business model' -
In 2022, UNESCO warned that "the business model of the news media is broken".
Advertising revenue -- the lifeline of news publications -- has dried up in recent years, with Internet giants such as Google and Facebook owner Meta soaking up half of that spending, the report said.
Meta, Amazon and Google's parent company Alphabet alone account for 44 percent of global ad spend, while only 25 percent goes to traditional media organisations, according to a study by the World Advertising Research Center.
Platforms like Facebook "are now explicitly deprioritising news and political content", the Reuters Institute's 2024 Digital News Report pointed out.
Traffic from social to news sites has sharply declined as a result, causing a drop in revenue.
Few are keen to pay for news. Only 17 percent of people polled across 20 wealthy countries said they had online news subscriptions in 2023.
Such trends, leading to rising costs, have resulted in "layoffs, closures, and other cuts" in media organisations around the world, the study found.
- Eroding trust -
Public trust in the media has increasingly eroded in recent years.
Only four in 10 respondents said they trusted news most of the time, the Reuters Institute reported.
Meanwhile, young people are relying more on influencers and content creators than newspapers to stay informed.
For them, video is king, with the study citing the influence of TikTok and YouTube stars such as American Vitus Spehar and Frenchman Hugo Travers, known for his channel HugoDecrypte.
- Growing disinformation -
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has renewed concerns about disinformation -- rife on social platforms -- as the tool can generate convincing text and images.
In the United States, partisan websites masquerading as media outlets now outnumber American newspaper sites, the research group NewsGuard, which tracks misinformation, said in June.
"Pink slime" outlets -- politically motivated websites that present themselves as independent local news outlets -- are largely powered by AI. This appears to be an effort to sway political beliefs ahead of the US election.
As part of a national crackdown on disinformation, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended access to Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter.
The court accused the social media platform of refusing to remove accounts charged with spreading fake news, and flouting other judicial rulings.
"Eradicating disinformation seems impossible, but things can be implemented," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) editorial director Anne Bocande told AFP.
Platforms can bolster regulation and create news reliability indicators, like RSF's Journalism Trust Initiative, Bocande said.
- Alarming new player -
AI has pushed news media into unchartered territory.
US streaming platform Peacock introduced AI-generated custom match reports during the Paris Olympics this year, read with the voice of sports commentator Al Michaels -- fuelling fears AI could replace journalists.
Despite these concerns, German media giant Axel Springer has decided to bet on AI while refocusing on its core news activities.
At its roster, which includes Politico, the Bild tabloid, Business Insider and Die Welt daily, AI will focus on menial production tasks so journalists can dedicate their time to reporting and securing scoops.
In a bid to profit from the technology's rise, the German publisher as well as The Associated Press and The Financial Times signed content partnerships with start-up OpenAI.
But the Microsoft-backed firm is also caught in a major lawsuit with The New York Times over copyright violations.
- 'Quiet repression' -
With journalists frequently jailed, killed and attacked worldwide, "repression is a major issue," said RSF's Bocande.
A total of 584 journalists are languishing behind bars because of their work -- with China, Belarus and Myanmar the world's most prolific jailers of reporters.
The war in Gaza sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel has already left a "terrible" mark on press freedom, Bocande added.
More than 130 journalists have been killed by Israeli airstrikes since October 7, 2023, including 32 while "in the exercise of their duties".
She said a "quiet repression" campaign is underway in countries around the world, including in democracies -- with investigative journalism hampered by fresh laws on national security.
J.Pereira--PC