“Reality doesn’t stop because you’re tired of it”

“Information is dissent. Truth is dissent. And the rigorous production of information is considered dangerous. Journalism is resistance,” said Carlos Dada, founder and editor-in-chief of El Faro, in this year’s Memorial Lecture. The renowned Salvadoran journalist emphasised how, today, independent journalism has become one of the last defences against democratic collapse. 

Following the lecture, Dada joined a panel chaired by our director, Mitali Mukherjee, to further delve into this topic. Also on the panel were Reuters global managing editor Nick Tattersall and deputy editor-in-chief of Haaretz Noa Landau. 

Watch the event

The impact of populism

The panellists discussed how populist leaders, particularly in El Salvador and Israel, have undermined journalism. Dada described how they weaponise language, a journalist’s tool, to garner support for their cause and against those they perceive as enemies. 

“They determine the people's needs, fears and aspirations, and then manipulate the language to try to get in touch with them; they create an enemy so the public can blame someone,” Dada said. In this, he added, it doesn’t matter what the ideology of the populist government is; the tactics tend to be the same, as is the impact on journalism.

One of these tactics is ‘accountability sabotage’, as Dada explained in his lecture: suppressing access to information and to opposition and critical media. This results in independent journalists being considered enemies of the state. 

In Israel, Landau explained, the populist narrative centres around portraying news media and other institutions as an unfriendly elite opposing the governing party. This becomes absurd when, like in Israel, the governing party has been in power for decades and can count on numerous friendly media outlets.

“The ruling party has been promoting this idea that they represent a suppressed minority when they're actually in power for so many years… So who is the elite here and who is the suppressed?” she asked.

Under polarised, populist politics, Landau said, journalists have to stray from pure impartiality and frame issues within an acceptable worldview. Haaretz, she explained, does not treat extreme positions, such as supporting ethnic cleansing, as just another ‘view’ to include in its opinion pages. On the other hand, she added, readers are getting increasingly upset when Haaretz publishes a view that doesn’t align with what they believe. 

For Reuters, Tattersall explained, a way to navigate these issues is to double down on evidence-based reporting and to be careful with the language and sourcing used, particularly in high-stakes contexts like conflict. 

News avoidance

As crises pile up, both at home and in the wider world, news avoidance increases as people choose to consume more lighthearted ‘content’ on their phones instead of keeping up with the news, Landau said. But being tired of the news isn’t a luxury we can afford, she added.

“People are tired of the news, but the reality doesn't stop just because you're tired of it. And if you go to sleep or watch Netflix, the news doesn't go away. It only becomes worse,” she said.

If people keep choosing to distract themselves rather than reading reliable news coverage of what’s happening around them, then eventually outlets like Haaretz won’t be able to keep going, Landau said.

Tattersall explained how Reuters is also facing the same issue: people sadly get used to daily horrors, like migrants drowning in the Mediterranean, or Gazans killed by Israeli bombs, and switch off. One way journalists can stop this from happening is by sharpening their focus on human stories, he said.

Another issue tackled by Dada is when audiences aren’t interested in reporting because they don’t want to believe what outlets like El Faro are writing about leaders they support.

Although it might be discouraging to make sacrifices reporting on an oppressive government that is actually very popular, Dada finds comfort in thinking about the future.

“People in El Salvador are not interested in the truth now, but they will be,” he said.

“When the honeymoon passes, when they realise the consequences of having a dictator deciding your destiny, then they will turn to see all the work we've been doing,” he added.

Platforms have changed the landscape

Panellists stressed that in this digital age, the old authoritarian tactics that erode the state of journalism - such as legal pressures, intimidation, and threats - are now amplified and eased by digital platforms. 

Trump in the United States and Nayib Bukele in El Salvador, for example, have built upon their authoritarian playbook via posts and videos with a tone that in the past would be considered unbecoming of a world leader. Dada pointed out that the populist rhetoric these leaders are using is not new, but technology has changed the rules of the game. 

“A lot of the language is familiar, but the use of technology has made it much worse,” said Dada. “It spreads these dangerous discourses at a really fast speed, and it is a great aid for those who want their prejudices to be reinforced and not challenged.”

Authoritarian leaders can now frequently challenge those they consider enemies, including journalists, in the public square with little consequence. Tattersall pointed out that journalists are now experiencing cyber-intimidation at unprecedented levels, which is why he encourages journalists to protect themselves online by practising secure cyber hygiene to make themselves less of a target. 

“Cyber-risk, what can initially look like intimidation and harassment online, can very rapidly translate into physical risk,” said Tattersall. “We've seen cases from North America to other parts of the world where what looked like intimidation and harasment of journalists online has translated into physical threats quite quickly.”

Moreover, the process of news consumption has changed dramatically due to the digital revolution. Landau indicated that news organisations no longer only compete with other news outlets but with everything else that audiences can find on their phones. This includes content creators, many of whom are in the news and information space, who, as Dada noted, can often be propaganda or fake news disseminators who have no regard for the facts. 

“Now that we get our information, or our content as it is now called, on our phones, it becomes a completely individual activity. The communities are made inside the phones with people that share your prejudices, not with people willing to discuss, to debate, to dialogue,” said Dada. 

Journalism’s impact in an authoritarian context

At its strongest and most direct, the impact of journalism is holding power accountable or leading towards policy change. However, in authoritarian contexts, impact can rarely be measured through this lens. Members of the panel emphasised that, while their impact cannot be directly seen in the present, independent reporting is still a necessary vehicle for resistance against authoritarianism and populism. 

Landau, for example, referred to an anecdote of a colleague working on researching slavery in America by reading newspapers from the time and how now, even though change seemed distant back then, we can look back at how far we have come. 

“Maybe it's not so optimistic, but at least we can be the first draft of history, in the sense that we are the archive,” said Landau. “We write these facts maybe for another generation, but it's still a job that's important to do.”

Documenting abuses, preserving the record, and holding power to account even when audiences are fatigued or hostile is still necessary, even if the impact is not immediate. In contexts of complex political environments, like what Israel and El Salvador are facing, impact must also be framed as a long-term responsibility of journalism. In this sense, journalism operates as both a watchdog and an archive, safeguarding the truth against its rewriting of history. 

“History teaches us that this, too, will pass. This is what I tell my newsroom. But when this ends, we still want to be here doing our job,” said Dada.