Public interest journalism has a powerful role to play in steadying our vulnerable society

Martin Shipton

I have very mixed feelings about the fact that huge numbers of users have left Elon Musk’s X social media platform since Donald Trump was elected to serve as US President for another term.

In one way it’s a good thing that so many people have decided to turn their backs on a means of communication that has become more toxic since Musk’s takeover.

Yet I can’t help having nostalgic feelings for what was formerly Twitter. The very name conjured up positive images of birds tweeting in a dawn chorus at an idyllic setting.

I was, though, a relatively late convert. The decision was taken for me by a friend as we had a New Year’s drink in Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre in January 2013. He told me it was high time I was on Twitter, grabbed my phone, set me up and told me I was away. I took to it very quickly, using it to tweet photos of my stories in the Western Mail that they wouldn’t put online and writing posts as and when I saw fit.

In the main it was a positive experience, although there was a negative element even then. I didn’t mind people disagreeing with me, but didn’t take to the abuse.

The worst was over a few days in 2020 when I was targeted after criticising those who defied strict Welsh Government Covid laws aimed at saving lives for holding Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Cardiff after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. I learnt my lesson and blocked all those who were personally abusive.

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Racist nonsense

Since Musk took over, my feed has been bombarded with dangerous far right racist nonsense and conspiracy theories, none of which I signed up for. Many people have decided they’ve had enough and have left X.

I have remained so far, these days largely using the channel to promote my stories from Nation.Cymru.

The consequence of the exodus from X is further polarisation in our society, which as I have argued before has tended to follow trends in the United States a few years later.

But the timescale of transatlantic influence has certainly accelerated, and we have to be vigilant about developments that are taking place with rapidity.

The other day Trump made a truly Orwellian statement, in which he said his new administration would root out misinformation and disinformation from all federal departments and agencies. This was pretty rich, given that when he left office in January 2021 the Washington Post said its fact checkers had identified 30,573 false or misleading claims made by him during his first four-year term of office.

Things change, though, and after the intervention of its owner Jeff Bezos, the Washington Post, despite its longstanding liberal reputation, refused to endorse Kamala Harris in the Presidential election, leading inevitably to another exodus of subscribers.

Trump’s determination to root out information that doesn’t conform to his warped version of reality poses a considerable challenge to US journalists, who will need to hold to account Cabinet members like Robert F Kennedy Jnr, a notorious anti-vaxxer who poses a risk to millions as Secretary for Health.

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Ousting

In Wales and Britain more generally, journalism needs to step up to the plate and scrutinise politicians with determination and vigour. The ousting as First Minister of Vaughan Gething earlier this year was a prime example of that, and I am proud to have played my part in it. I have the good fortune to write for a small but rapidly growing independent news website based in Wales that has no loyalty outside our country and is not constrained by policies dictated by a larger entity.

It’s sad to report that such policies are stifling the talents of young journalists entering the profession, having been trained to a very high standard at institutions like JOMEC, the journalism department at Cardiff University.

These days they’re likely to be expected to turn in eight stories per day, three of which will involve putting pieces already published on sister websites outside Wales through AI software in a bid to ensure their prominence is not downgraded by an algorithm that dislikes recycled material.

Getting promising young reporters to engage in such a grotesque parody of what their job should really be about represents the death of journalism. Those responsible should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Accurate information

At a time when truth is under fierce attack from the most powerful people in the world, all of us within the profession need to recommit ourselves to reporting on our communities and on our country, providing readers with accurate information about decisions being taken that will affect their lives and those of their neighbours.

We do have the power to influence events, as this year in Wales has proved. But everyone working as a journalist needs to be involved. The perception of some managers that ordinary people aren’t interested in politics is far from true, and in itself a cynical misrepresentation.

In Wales we need to hold our politicians to account. Unfortunately there are some who choose to behave like mini-Trumps, with truth being left behind in favour of political opportunism. The latest example has been reported on by my colleague Emily Price, who has highlighted how Andrew RT Davies has tried to give credibility to a ludicrous story in the Daily Mail that falsely suggested the Welsh Government was banning dogs from the countryside to appease ethnic minority campaigners.

Disrepute

Those of us working as journalists in Wales may not regrettably be able to make much of a dent in the Trump/Musk lying machine, but we can certainly take on the Welsh Conservative Senedd leader. And so we must.

He is bringing his own party into disrepute, firing off damp squibs at the Welsh Government, which can, of course, be criticised legitimately on a variety of grounds.

It’s a matter of regret that the Daily Mail is the biggest selling paper in Wales, shamelessly able to fill the heads of its readers with such nonsense and abetted by the likes of Mr Davies.

It was the consensus feeling among those who attended the Wales Media Awards at the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff on the evening of Friday November 15 that Welsh journalists have a special responsibility to reveal the truth about what is going on in our democracy.

Regardless of the ill winds blowing from social media, certain news outlets and some politicians, we must all commit ourselves to doing that.