On Friday 4 October 2024, the EESC´s Ad hoc Group on the European Citizens’ Initiative (AHG ECI) organised a debate on "The European Citizens’ Initiative – State of play in Croatia" in Zagreb. The objective of the debate was for the ad hoc group members to listen to and talk with local stakeholders about their experience, views and ideas, especially on the visibility and awareness of the European Citizens´ Initiative (ECI) in Croatia, and on lessons learned and good practices identified so far.
On 17 and 18 October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held its top annual communication event, Connecting EU, which brings together communicators from civil society organisations. Held under the title "A bastion of democracy: helping journalism survive and thrive", the seminar this year focused on the media's current situation and its place in society. It pointed to journalists facing increasing pressure from governments and private interests that curb media freedom. Alongside the familiar obstacles, they now face the rise of generative AI, which despite its benefits, threatens the economic foundations of journalism.
On 17 and 18 October, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held its top annual communication event, Connecting EU, which brings together communicators from civil society organisations. Held under the title "A bastion of democracy: helping journalism survive and thrive", the seminar this year focused on the media's current situation and its place in society. It pointed to journalists facing increasing pressure from governments and private interests that curb media freedom. Alongside the familiar obstacles, they now face the rise of generative AI, which despite its benefits, threatens the economic foundations of journalism.
"What is truth? This age-old question has resurfaced with AI, in the context of fake news, conspiracy theories and authoritarian governments, all of which systematically undermine informed debate, accuracy and respectful discussion. It is so timely that we come together to look for questions and answers that unite us in the EU," said EESC President Oliver Röpke.
"20 years ago, few could have predicted that in 2024 most of us would no longer read the morning paper with our morning coffee, but would browse through our phones to read news on the news websites and increasingly so - on social media," said Aurel Laurenţiu Plosceanu, EESC Vice-President for Communication, "But beyond new challenges, old ones remain. Journalists still battle their old enemies: censorship, opaque media ownership, insufficient funding and anti-media laws, to name but a few."
Ricardo Gutiérrez, General Secretary of the European Federation of Journalists, stressed that the work of journalists should be treated as a “public service” or “public good” threatened by economic challenges, harassing lawsuits (SLAPPs) and direct violence (14 journalists killed in the EU since 2015).
"Journalism is becoming a more dangerous profession than ever," argued Jerzy Pomianowski, Executive Director of the European Endowment for Democracy, citing the persecution of journalists in Belarus. Andrey Gnyot, a Belarusian filmmaker, activist and journalist under house arrest in Belgrade and at risk of extradition, shared in his video message that the greatest threat to journalism is "a brute force intent on destroying truth and decency." Similarly, Belarusian journalist Hanna Liubakova, sentenced to 10 years in prison in absentia, noted that in Belarus, 33 journalists are imprisoned, and that even subscribing to her social media channel could result in jail time.
Dr Alexandra Borchardt, senior journalist, independent advisor, media researcher and lead author of the EBU report "Trusted Journalism in the Age of Generative AI", made what she called the “provocative” claim that “journalism and generative AI are at odds because journalism is about facts, and generative AI calculates probabilities, so it's not about facts. That's why it needs to be fact-checked," she said in her keynote speech'Trusted Information in the Age of Generative AI'.
Ms Borchardt warned the media against a 'digital divide', where part of society embraces the age of AI and the rest resists it. If media fail to adapt, they risk losing in the battle to use AI to modernize and reach audiences. Among the challenges for the media arising from generative AI is the loss of visibility for journalists in an AI-based business model and the lack of control over content.
The overabundance of information that AI can mass-produce can lead to audience overload. “Will young people want to become journalists if it means competing with AI?" asked Ms Borchardt. (ll)
