When facts give way to fiction, guardians of truth need more support to keep up

Every month, PIJI brings you the latest on the public interest journalism sector at home and around the world.

Research reveals most Australians are woefully unprepared to deal with disinformation, but support for media professionals working to mitigate the damage is weakening.

In this issue, PIJI gets insight from those on the frontlines of defence against false and misleading news. We also speak to 6 News Australia founder Leo Puglisi about Australia’s upcoming social media age ban.

PIJI is an independent advocacy organisation. We appreciate your support. Please consider forwarding this newsletter to someone interested in the sustainability of public interest journalism and its importance to the survival of democracy.

Fact checkers under fire

The credibility of public interest journalism relies on factual reporting, yet media teams committed to uncovering the truth are struggling to endure.

Why Australia’s media literacy must improve

At a time when technology makes it easier than ever to mislead, media literacy is vital. Yet too many Australians lack the skillset to sort truth from false.

6 News founder labels social media age ban ‘ineffective’

Leo Puglisi began reporting at just 11 years old. Now he is watching the government restrict young people’s access to the platforms on which he built his career.

ICYMI: Industry updates

Australia

• Liberal MP Mary Aldred called for the finalisation and implementation of the proposed News Media Assistance Program and News Bargaining Incentive in a speech to the House of Representatives.
  “There has never been a more important time to support our regional and local publishers,” she said.
  “I’m calling on the federal government to get its act together and come good on commitments made which are well past their due date.”
• Australian media agencies spent a record $9 billion on ads last financial year, but newspapers, digital news, radio and television have largely missed out on the spending spree.
• The ABC released new ‘public comment guidelines‘ for employees after being found to have breached the Fair Work Act and its own enterprise agreement when Antoinette Lattouf was fired over her social media activity.
  The guidelines were criticised as “punitive” by MEAA director, media section Cassie Derrick, who said the policy appeared to target staff based on how public facing they were rather than their level of control over the editorial process.
• Australian news outlets took vastly different approaches to reporting on Palestine Action Group’s historic March for Humanity across the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The reactions broadly reflected the respective editorial approaches to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
• News publishing beats social media as one of Australians’ most trusted news sources (17.9 per cent vs 6.4 per cent), Roy Morgan data shows.
• Nine won a defamation trial brought by orthopaedic surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis over reports of negative patient experiences published in 2022. The court ruled the reporting was in the public interest, accepting Nine’s defence of contextual truth.

Around the World

• Multiple outlets, including Wired and Business Insider, took down articles produced by a freelance writer after determining the pieces were likely AI-generated and contained false information.
• Israel has continued killing journalists in Gaza, with the total death toll of media workers since October 2023 reaching at least 219, according to the International Federation of Journalists.
  Last month’s victims include four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers on August 10, a Palestine TV cameraman on 23 August, and six journalists, working for outlets ranging from Reuters to AP, on August 25. They are remembered by loved ones and colleagues for their dedication to their work even under severe threat of violence.
  Several international outlets, particularly those which employed the killed journalists, drew criticism for coverage focusing on Israel’s accusations of Hamas ties as a basis for the killings. A longtime Reuters photographer resigned in protest over the issue.
  Reuters has since stopped sharing the locations of its journalists with the IDF, and sent a letter alongside AP to Israeli officials demanding accountability for the killings and safety for remaining journalists.
• In the US, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced a ‘wind-down’ of operations after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted for a funding cut of nearly US$1.1 billion (A$1.6 billion). Most staff positions will end on 30 September, with a small transition team to stay in place until January.
  The closure will impact the National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, which the Trump administration accused of anti-conservative bias. But the change will be most deeply felt by more than 1500 locally-operated public television and radio stations typically funded by the CPB.
  Availability of educational programming, local news coverage and emergency broadcasts will be at increased risk, particularly given one in three counties across the US already lack a full-time local journalist.
  The Public Media Bridge Fund, launched by nonprofit Public Media Company, hopes to raise US$100 million (A$152 million) over two years to help offset some of the damage.
• An American journalist interviewed an AI-generated version of a school shooting victim Joaquin Oliver, who had been killed in 2018.
  Oliver’s parents are using the 17-year-old’s AI clone, trained on his social media posts and other writings, to campaign for gun control. But the move sparked some backlash for ‘reanimating’ the dead instead of speaking with survivors and affected loved ones.
• South Africa’s new Digital News Transformation Fund, a partnership between Google and the Association of Independent Publishers, is open to applications.
  Funding is on offer to small, medium, and community-based independent news publishers for projects driving digital transformation and long-term sustainability for the media industry.
  The application deadline is 21 September, 2025.
• Submissions are open for the Fetisov Journalism Awards 2025, with a total prize fund of 520,000 CHF ($994,454). Open to journalists worldwide with eligible pieces published between 1 June, 2024 and 31 May, 2025, the awards focus on work that brings truth to light, challenges injustice and inspires change.
  The entry deadline is 15 September, 2025.

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