Michelle Ainsworth PSM has dedicated her professional life to the pursuit of quality journalism. She understands the vital role played by the fourth estate in preserving the integrity of our democracy.
Michelle is an innovator in thought and action and has 30 years’ experience as a journalist, producer and news executive with commercial networks and public broadcasters.
Michelle led the ABC’s federal election coverage in 2019 and 2022 and returned to the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery to witness the decline in trust in both the media and Australia's democratic institutions. She also observed the growing trend in misinformation designed to confuse Australia’s diverse communities as well as first time voters.
Michelle is passionate about democracy. She believes it is fragile and must be protected from those who seek to disrupt it for their own agenda.
Australia’s democracy is the 6th oldest in the world largely because of our independent electoral system that’s the envy of the western world, yet vulnerabilities are beginning to crack. 2024 was dubbed a “super election year”, with more than half the world’s population eligible to vote in elections.
Former political editor Michelle Ainsworth travelled on a Winston Churchill Fellowship to the US, the UK and Finland. She wanted to understand why trust in democracy was declining and audiences are turning away from traditional news sources She explored how international media organisations are exposing political misinformation, to help citizens restore trust in their democratic institutions. She spoke to experts on how Generative AI impacted elections and how the Australian media can learn from these challenges.
Truth, Trust and Democracy is a seven-part podcast series that makes up Michelle's report, which is accessible here.
The podcast examines polarisation in politics and the media, the spread of misinformation and disinformation via social media and the impact of generative AI in elections. The last four episodes look at the role of publicly funded broadcasters and local journalism, fact checking and media literacy.
Project
To investigate declining trust in democracy and how the news media can slow this trend
Michelle Ainsworth
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