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Get behind World News Day 2020 campaign

Newsrooms are invited to join initiative from the World Editors Forum and the Canadian Journalism Foundation and to help show journalism’s impact, writes project co-ordinator Alexander Jones.

by WAN-IFRA External Contributor info@wan-ifra.org | June 28, 2020

Today’s news consumers are inundated with opportunities to engage with a range of diverse news and information sources.

Audience fatigue from information overload is a predicament for news outlets, and the prevalence of falsehood and misinformation parading as truth, as evidenced by the global Covid-19 pandemic, is making it harder for readers and viewers to discern fact from fiction.

This year’s Digital News Report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, revealed “global concerns about misinformation remain high” and that “even before the coronavirus crisis hit, more than half of our global sample said they were concerned about what is true or false on the internet when it comes to news”.

Fortunately, this is where professional journalism comes in.

“Around the world, newsrooms and journalists have stepped up to the challenge of covering the Covid-19 pandemic,” says Warren Fernandez, president of the World Editors Forum (WEF) and Editor-in-Chief of The Straits Times. “They keep our communities informed of developments, and help them make sense of the impact this deadly virus is having on our lives and livelihoods.”

“They also help counter that other virus raging out there — fake news,” Fernandez continued. “Our audiences have responded, with a surge in trust, engagement and support for established newsrooms.”

But while this might sound encouraging, there is still a lot of work to be done to draw attention to the work of journalists.

World News Day 2020 aims to raise public awareness of the critical role that journalists and newsrooms play in helping people make sense of — and improve — the rapidly changing world around them.

“World News Day is about recognising the people in the news and listening to how journalism has made a difference in their lives,” says David Walmsley, Editor-in-Chief of The Globe and Mail and outgoing Candian Journalism Foundation board chair. “It is about coming together across the continents and displaying support for journalists and their audiences who together, using facts and understanding, make the world a better place.”

Last year, more than 40 outlets from around the world — including such internationally-renowned organisations as The Globe and Mail, The Straits Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung and the South China Morning Post — took part to spotlight the vital work of professional journalists and the impact they have in the communities they serve. World News Day 2020 aims to be bigger, better and more impactful. This year, the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) and the World Editors Forum, are committed to securing the participation of more than 100 newsrooms from around the globe. Google News Initiative has stepped up as the initial sponsor to help make this happen.

“World News Day, on September 28, will be an occasion to tell the story of how 100 newsrooms from across the planet responded to this global crisis, and played their role in keeping our societies well informed as well as bringing our communities together, so critical in these testing times,” said Fernandez, launching this year’s campaign with an ambitious target.


What is World News Day? It is a day to mark the contribution journalism makes to communities.

Who is behind it? World News Day was initiated by the Canadian Journalism Foundation in 2018. The World Editors Forum formally joined the initiative in 2019 to make it a global campaign. Google News Initiative put up the initial funding for 2020.

Why September 28? The day is chosen to co-incide with the International Day for Universal Access to Information 2020, a day important to journalism.

How can I join the 2020 World News Day campaign?  Contact World News Day project coordinator, Alex Jones.

Who celebrated World News Day in 2019. See below.

World News Day 2019 supporters

World News Day 2019 supporters

 

 


WAN-IFRA External Contributor

info@wan-ifra.org

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