Hold alternative news sites to same journalistic standards as mainstream media: Select Committee
The call for both mainstream media and alternative news sites to abide by the same standards is one of 22 recommendations put forth by the Select Committee in its 273-page report released on Thursday.
SINGAPORE — Alternative news sites should have the same professional journalistic standards as the mainstream media to ensure “fairness, accuracy and integrity in reporting”, said the committee studying online falsehoods.
“They should be free to air views in a responsible way, which encourages considered discussion and critical thinking,” it added in its report released on Thursday (Sept 20).
Describing quality journalism as an “important public good which needs to be continually supported and nurtured”, the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods said that this can be maintained through two ways.
First, journalists — whether mainstream or online — need to maintain professional standards in producing reports that are factual and accurate. Second, readers should be “sufficiently discerning” to shun news platforms that are consistently unwilling or unable to follow basic journalistic standards.
The Select Committee noted that “having trusted sources of reliable information put forth by quality journalists is critical because it militates against a culture of doubt and confusion that can be brought about by the spread of deliberate online falsehoods”.
The call for both mainstream media and alternative news sites to abide by the same standards is one of 22 recommendations put forth by the Select Committee in its 273-page report.
Among other recommendations relating to the role of media in combating fake news, it also proposed that news organisations, technology firms, and institutes of higher learning find ways to beef up the training of journalists, “especially in techniques for ensuring accuracy in a new and rapidly evolving digital news environment”.
Having quality journalism was an issue raised by several individuals including Mr Andrew Loh, co-founder of socio-political online site The Online Citizen, who also proposed that the Government fund the training of online journalists to achieve that aim.
Others suggested that the Government provide tax breaks to news organisations so that they can be freed from financial pressures and focus their attention on journalism. However, the committee responded that it is beyond its remit to deal with this issue.
Previously, there have been efforts to raise the standards of the online news sites. Back in 2012, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, then the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, had mooted the idea of an Internet code of conduct. But the idea did not take off.
A year later, the Government introduced an individual licensing regime for websites with local news content, with the objective of getting the sites to be accountable for the news they put out.
Under it, the websites have to comply within 24 hours with any directives to remove content that breach standards set by the authorities, such as those that undermine racial and religious harmony.
WHAT THE SELECT COMMITTEE ALSO PROPOSED:
Ramp up public education efforts:
Have a national framework for public education initiatives.
The framework should include an expanded curriculum in schools.
The curriculum should cover topics such as techniques used to spread misinformation.
What the Select Committee said: “The curricula used should be regularly updated in view of the evolving digital media landscape and insidious techniques used by malicious actors, which are increasingly difficult to detect.”
Encourage ground-up programmes:
Encourage and support ground-up initiatives such as campaigns
What the Select Committee said: “There is also room for greater partnership between government agencies and committed individuals, volunteers and non-governmental organisations who are dedicated to public education efforts in the community, but may be constrained by lack of resources in their work.”
Create fact-checking initiatives:
Media organisations and industry partners can set up a fact-checking coalition
This coalition can debunk falsehoods swiftly
Or it can also support efforts to create credible fact-checking initiatives
What the Select Committee said: “Ultimately, whether a fact-checking coalition will be trusted and relied upon by people depends on its credibility and its effectiveness. A fact-checking coalition that ends up being a partisan, propaganda mouthpiece of the Government of the day will very quickly lose its credibility, be of no utility to people, and, as one representor pointed out, end up damaging the Government’s own reputation in the process.”
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