On June 17 and 18, people from all over the world from the media industry, politics, science, education, business and civil society came together at the World Conference Center to discuss current socio-political conflicts and challenges in journalism.
The Bonn Institute was also represented at the GMF with three exciting panels. In the opening session, Ellen Heinrichs discussed global best-practice approaches to dealing with news fatigue, artificial intelligence and other challenges currently facing journalism with the Brazilian academic and YouTuber Atila Iamarino and the Executive Director of the Indian Express Group Anant Goenka in the old plenary hall.
The discussion also focused on the findings of the newly published Reuters Digital News Report, which underline, among other things, the increasing trend of news avoidance and the role of social media platforms in providing information to the population. To counter these crises, Ellen Heinrichs emphasized the need to make reporting more constructive and (once again) more people-centric.
Constructive journalism is a future-oriented and human-centric form of journalism. It not only addresses problems but also explores solutions. This approach fosters constructive dialogue on the significant stories of our times, encouraging open public discussion. Additionally, it emphasizes the inclusion of diverse perspectives, incorporating as many voices and viewpoints as possible.
On the second GMF day, Claudia Isabel Rittel, Research and Projects Officer at the Bonn Institute, first spoke about constructive uses of AI in everyday editorial work - the core topic of our forthcoming publication “Constructive AI Compass”. She presented the AI project and then discussed with Donata Dröge, Senior Research Manager at RTL, and Dr. Ranty Islam, Professor of Digital Journalism at the Media University in Cologne, how AI can be used to make reporting more constructive. They presented examples of prompts that can help to broaden perspectives and critically scrutinize one's own argumentation.
You still have to go out and talk to people, but AI can help you to figure out who to talk to.
Donata Dröge emphasized the extent to which she has already been able to benefit from AI applications at RTL News - especially when it comes to repetitive, diligent work. The question of what role the transparent use of AI applications plays in everyday editorial work was also addressed - especially in light of the increasing distrust of AI-generated content on the part of the audience, as the results of the new Reuters Digital News Report show. Ranty Islam gave the following impulse here:
Be transparent about the use of AI not only in specific projects, but in the newsroom in general.
Afterward, Ellen Heinrichs broadened her view beyond Europe: with Brent Lindeque, owner of the South African Good News platform, Moky Makura, Executive Director of Africa No Filter and Seth Onyango, Chief Correspondent of the Bird Story Agency, she discussed ways and concrete options for action to make reporting in Africa more constructive and diverse and thus respond to the needs of the population.
Thank you for two eventful, inspiring days with lots of constructive dialogue!
