Representatives of major news organisations in the chamber of the Council of Europe after speaking to national government delegations in Strasbourg about the importance of first-hand news reporting. Full caption details can be found at the bottom of this article. The panel session interventions are reported here.
A high-level delegation of news media representatives today (December 6, 2024) urged the Council of Europe (CoE), its member states and other institutions to establish dedicated policy programmes focused on safeguarding and enabling newsgathering.
Andrew Moger, Chief Executive of the News Media Coalition, addressing a CoE’s plenary session in Strasbourg, emphasised the urgent need for expert-backed initiatives with tangible outcomes to counter increasing threats to frontline journalism, what he termed Primary Source Journalism (PSJ).
“Our fact-hungry newsgatherers are the first line of defence against disinformation, misinformation, and the perils of unchecked generative AI,” Moger stated in his opening remarks. “But barriers to access, be they institutional, political, or economic, are pushing this vital form of journalism to the brink.”
He was joined on a panel organised by the NMC which featured prominent industry figures, including John Battle K.C (Hons), Head of Legal and Compliance at the Independent Television News (ITN); Alexandru Giboi, General Secretary of the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA); Deborah Bonetti, Director of the Foreign Press Association (FPA); and Robert Heslop, the NMC’s policy specialists and also representing European Publishers Council (EPC).
Specifically, Moger set out concrete proposals:
• We invite the Council of Europe and member states to extend their successful efforts to support journalism with a new, dedicated workstream on Safeguarding and Enabling Newsgathering
• We believe this should have resource, expert input and have tangible and positive outcomes for the future of Newsgathering as a distinct and vital form of journalism.
He explained the challenges facing basic newsgathering.
• Organisations and people in the news would rather put their messages onto social platforms – because the news media is difficult to manage or control
• Terms and conditions of press access to organised events limiting how and where news content can be created
•Professional newsgathering journalists are being squeezed out of press and media conferences because space has been made for so-called influencers, who have few if any ethical limitations
•The importance of video news is fully understood by news businesses but video news journalists is not fully accepted, particularly by organisers of news events
• In sport, any meaningful chance of telling a comprehensive news story including video means buying ‘Entertainment Rights’ – even for news away from the field of play
• Photo journalists increasingly prevented from capturing society in action – with a significant negative impact on the important news and documentary photography sector
Moger added: ‘Today’s newsgatherers are on the ground now and in newsrooms reacting fast to today’s events. They struggle – more than they should have to – to overcome barriers to access information, to accessing newsworthy events and to engaging with people in the news. They seek to pose questions the public cannot, seeking facts through observation and inquiry, capturing images for our collective memories – trying make sense of our worlds and to debunk disinformation, deepfake and dangerous aspects of generative artificial, and so-called, intelligence.’ News reporters – in parallel with fact-checking specialists – serve as the frontline soldiers to fight dis and misinformation, myth, conspiracy theorists through their first-hand witness accounts, inquiry and dogged persistence.
He said what was needed was to break the cycle of newsgatherers and journalists in general being devalued and denegrated. This should take the form of:
• recognition that the most powerful step in tackling disinformation is and will continue to be fact-hungry newsgatherers and literate news consumption.
• political, institutional and public figures being louder in promoting the value of newsgathering and backing words with action
• And for the news industry to play its role by continuing to explain why it needs to be able to invest in newsgathering and newsgatherers
Robert Heslop, the NMC’s policy specialist and also representing European Publishers Council (EPC) shared the viewpoint on these topics of a high-level group of Chairmen and CEOs of leading European media groups representing news media and publishing companies.
He told meeting in Strasbourg: ‘It is highly important to ensure policy at all levels, national, EU and Council of Europe is Policy is aligned to newsgathering and professional journalism. Efforts must be made to turn the good intentions in various reports into concrete action on the ground that leads to tangible results for newsgatherers in today’s challenging context.’
The NMC announced its intention to explore the possibility of a survey on the state of newsgathering. This initiative aims to gather insights from newsroom executives to identify patterns and priorities across the industry, enabling more focused advocacy and support for journalists on the ground.
A report on special panel session interventions can be found here.
The NMC-led delegation to the Plenary meeting of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
From left to right:
– Robert Heslop, Public Affairs Specialist of the NMC including the European Publishers Council
– John Battle, King’s Counsel (Hons), Head of Legal and Compliance at Independent Television News (ITN) and former chair of the Media Lawyers Association
– Maja Zaric (Serbia), Chair of the Steering Committee on Media and Information Society (CDMSI) which steers the Council of Europe’s work on protecting and promoting the right to freedom of expression, freedom of the media, safety of journalists, internet governance, and other information society-related issues.
– Deborah Bonetti, Director of the Foreign Press Association and correspondent of Italian daily newspaper Il Giorno
– Alex Giboi, General Secretary of the European Alliance of News Agencies, former General Director and President at the Romanian national news agency Agerpres
– Andrew Moger, Chief Executive of the News Media Coalition and former publishing managing editor
