3 January 2022. A fragmented media landscape, political pressure, growing anti-media sentiment and attacks on journalists are the new realities in which public service media (PSM) must operate. How can public service media respond to this rapidly changing media landscape, and how can they strengthen and deepen solidarity and build trust in our increasingly divided society? In a recent text, Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė, Director General of the Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT since 2018, reflects on the lessons that Lithuania’s public media have learned.
The manipulation of public opinion is the main catalyst for the division and polarisation of society, she said. To counteract this and strengthen trust in the media, public broadcasters must continue to play a key role in exposing disinformation and fake news. They need to expose fakes, including the sources, interests and techniques behind them, and show how the public space is abused and what digital trolls and political actors are doing there.
You can read her entire commentary here.
