Is trust in journalism falling across states, has journalism been losing its authority over truth, and what structural problems is it exposed to, was the subject of the first lecture of Gong's workshop "Disinformation and Journalism", held on April 18th, 2023 at the Faculty of Political Sciences by Dražen Hoffmann and Matej Mikašinović-Komšo.
The first in a series of four meetings for students of journalism in the course "Data-driven Strategic Journalism", held by Professor Marijana Grbeša, placed emphasis on introducing students to the contemporary, comprehensive crisis of journalism - a profession threatened by multiple structural problems and burdens, including a loss of credibility and trust in the eyes of the public, excessive reliance on metrics and data, growing pressure from advertisers, influence of politics, decline in professional standards, and the growth of the audience's cognitive load.
After defining these structural problems, the students were also introduced to the ways in which newsrooms and media systems resist them, with the aim of regaining their role as a key actor for informing the public and advocating for the public interest.
After the presentation of the nature of the journalism crisis, the students were divided into groups, each tasked with discussing a specific problem that burdens journalism. Thinking and discussing the effect of these problems on journalism, the students tried to imagine a future world in which journalism is completely subordinated to them. Ultimately, the conclusion is that journalism cannot escape the changes it is faced with, but it also does not have to be a controlled by them.
