ABC director, julian quirozsaid at a conference held in Badajoz. The current moment the journalistic profession is experiencingnew technologies, and above all, a sensitive political climate that is increasingly polarized and radicalized. … The lecture, titled “The Threat to Journalism: ‘Fake News’, AI, Censorship and Polarization”, was organized by the Extremadura Academy of Medicine and the Illustrious College of Physicians in Badajoz.
Quiros begins his examination by appealing to the very foundations of journalism. Journalism, he defends, “consists of telling people what they don’t want them to know,” because the rest is “propaganda.” “When a newspaper is full of stuff that poses no risk, it’s not journalism, or at best it’s minor journalism.” The basis of this profession, as he claimed, is precisely that: Maintaining “nuisance power” and “natural motivation” Occupation as a tool of control and surveillance by those in power.
Indeed, along these lines, ABC directors often defend themselves as follows: Disinformation “comes from a variety of sources”which is usually political and controls many resources and budgets. He believes it is more of a tool “against the press” than a tool of the press. To illustrate this, he cited the Dana tragedy in Valencia last year as an example, saying that “most of the rumors did not make it to the media.”
Indeed, in this sense, Mr. Quiros also warns of increasing social and political polarization, in his words: “I like ‘fake news’ and populism.”which also leads to the “illegalization of the press.” Despite working in the media for decades, the ABC director believes that rulers are now putting increasing pressure on the media. “The powers that be are increasingly harassing the media.”
Throughout his press conference, he emphasized the need for the media not to bow to ever-increasing political pressure. “The media has made mistakes before and will continue to make mistakes, but they always have.” The mistakes of overly complacent journalists are more serious. than those of overly critical journalists.
Promoting artificial intelligence
The ABC director acknowledged that the advent of the Internet at the time “changed everyone’s lives.” Regarding the media, he emphasized that they “continue to dominate the information space on the Internet.” The job has changed “irrevocably,” he explained. Newspapers ‘had to adapt’ In a situation where “anyone with a mobile phone can report or pretend to have reported a crime.”
Despite all this, he believes that one of the great tasks of the media in the midst of content and misinformation is not to tell people what they don’t know, as has traditionally been the case, but rather to “tell people.” whether what they already know is true». Journalists should always be suspicious, he argued. Today, more than ever. He remembers a phrase that perfectly exemplifies this. “If your mother says she loves you, prove it.”
Regarding the explosion of artificial intelligence, Quiros argued that it will not lead to job losses. “Doing a good job doesn’t make it go away.”. Rather than causing harm, he believes his appearance “changed the rules of the game” and “allowed the media to do other things.”