Journalists are entrusted by their audiences to provide accurate and reliable information, especially on sensitive topics that can shape the public’s perception or influence decision-making.
However, platforms like X (formerly Twitter) present unique challenges to this mission where the credibility of journalists matters significantly, especially in the online space, where misinformation spreads rapidly.
In November, The Guardian announced its decision to leave the platform which they said is driven by the prevalence of unsettling content on the platform, such as far-right conspiracy theories and racism. “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse,” said the announcement.
This concern is mirrored by Marcus Low, Editor of South African online publication Spotlight, who highlighted another critical issue: The tendency of some social media algorithms to prioritise clickbait or sensational content over the more thoughtful and in-depth reporting produced by news organisations such as his own.
“Typically, these platforms also want you to stay on their app or website, rather than clicking away to a news website. In such ways, the incentives of the platform owners are often not aligned with those of users and news media”, said Low.
Similar to The Guardian, organisations are leaving platforms like X due to policy changes and the spread of misinformation, creating opportunities for alternative social media platforms to emerge.
For example, Bluesky, a relatively new social networking app, has seen a significant increase in users over the past few months, now boasting over 24 million users. With its distinctive azure butterfly logo and features similar to X—such as hashtags, mentions, and reposts—Bluesky offers familiar functionality that likely contributes to its growing popularity.
This may give Bluesky a window to leverage why people have traditionally been drawn to X, particularly journalists, due to its real-time news capabilities, networking opportunities, and user engagement tools.
“We like that Bluesky’s default feed is a pure following feed, rather than being mediated by some black box algorithm such as the defaults on some other platforms. We think a pure following feed like this is more conducive to building communities around shared interests. It is also less vulnerable to being overrun by misinformation or disinformation,” said Low.
However, regardless of the platform, journalists should maintain sight of accuracy and their responsibility. Freelance South African journalist Terri-Ann Brouwers said journalists should remain vigilant and not accept information at face value—whatever the source.
“The best thing journalists can do is to not take anything by face value and should do their type of fact-checking, especially when it comes to sensitive topics,” she said.
By prioritising factual accuracy, transparency, and accountability, journalists can serve as a reliable source of information in a digital landscape often dominated by noise and misinformation.
Low emphasised that trust is not something that you can be taken for granted.
“There are no shortcuts. You have to earn the trust of your readers, and you can only really do that by continuously doing the type of fair and rigorous journalism that earns trust,” he said.
