A note from the Reuters Institute's Chair, Helen Boaden

From our Annual Report 2025-26

As the UK Government urges its citizens to stockpile supplies for an anticipated major energy crisis, it’s self-evident that we are living in turbulent times. Journalism itself is facing external threats as democratic norms and the rule of law no longer guarantee press freedom. Billionaire technologists shape not just the future but how most audiences currently engage with news.

And what of journalists themselves? As their industry goes through massive upheavals, what is their role in this intense period of unpredictability and international conflict? How do they confidently ask difficult questions of the politically and financially powerful when to do so can invite existential attack?

These questions have deeply engaged us at the Reuters Institute during the past year. There are no simple answers, but perhaps we can learn from colleagues whose backs have been against the wall for some years.

Carlos Dada, our 2026 Reuters Memorial Lecturer, gave us a powerful insight into how journalists try to do their jobs in the face of systematic and frightening repression. As co-founder and editor-in-chief of El Faro, a prominent Latin American news outlet, he was forced to flee El Salvador when the regime cracked down on independent journalism. He now operates from outside the country.

Calling his Reuters lecture ‘Journalism as Resistance’, he described the autocratic wave of far-right and populist leaders who deliberately and dangerously label individual journalists and news organisations as enemies of the people. He was unequivocal about the difficult trade-offs the journalism of resistance may require, including upending business models to survive. What could not be traded, he said, was the integrity of the journalism.

Most journalists don’t expect to be driven from home, as Carlos was, to do their job. But there is growing pressure on many colleagues as autocracies now outnumber democracies across the globe. His lecture demonstrated that successful independent journalism in the face of autocracy still needs funding, technology, and the trust of audiences – none of which comes easily. But it also requires formidable personal and organisational resilience.

His underlying message was clear: as the times get tougher, so must journalism and journalists. It’s a sobering assessment which we shall take with us into the year ahead.