Link to Episode 1: Democracy in Decline
Australia’s democracy is the 6th oldest in the world yet despite having an independent electoral system that’s the envy of the western world, 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 hoped to explore why trust in democracy was declining while audiences are turning away from traditional news sources. This is the first episode of Truth, Trust and Democracy, a new seven-part series that examines polarisation in politics and the media, the spread of misinformation and disinformation via social media and the impact of generative AI in elections. Later episodes will look at the role of publicly funded broadcasters and local journalism, fact checking and media literacy. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 2: Polarisation
In this episode Michelle Ainsworth explores the impact of rising polarisation in the media and the political landscape, and the impact that’s having on trust in democracy. She talks to senior journalists, academics who teach journalism and others who are experts in information integrity. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 3: Misinformation and Disinformation
Michelle Ainsworth explores how social media has enabled misinformation and disinformation to disrupt democracies around the world. She’ll talk to digital forensics and disinformation experts, senior journalists, and academics who focus on information integrity. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 4: AI and Elections
Michelle Ainsworth explores how the hype around Generative AI and the 2024 year of elections panned out, and why technology guardrails are urgently needed to protect democracy. She’ll talk to experts in Generative AI and digital forensics. She also interviews former US government advisors, Australian election experts and disinformation specialists. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 5: Media and Elections
In this episode Michelle Ainsworth looks at why strong public service media organisations and local journalism are vital for keeping democracy in check at a grassroots level. She also explores the challenges facing political journalists who are working in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. She’ll talk to senior journalists and news executives, former US government advisors, information integrity experts and disinformation specialists. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 6: Fact Checking, Prebunking and Debunking
Michelle Ainsworth explores the tools that are being used to tackle misinformation and disinformation, while at the same time keeping a healthy information ecosystem that produces accurate, trustworthy and reliable information, while still exposing people to a variety of ideas. She’ll talk to leading academics who work on pre-bunking initiatives, senior journalists and news executives, information integrity experts and disinformation specialists. Download show notes here
Link to Episode 7: Media and Digital Literacy
In this final episode Michelle Ainsworth explores why everyone needs strong media and digital literacy skills to help navigate our increasingly messy information ecosystem. She’ll also touch on the importance of civic engagement in a democracy. She’ll talk to experts in media and digital literacy, civics, former US government advisors and leading academics in disinformation. Download show notes here