Countering Disinformation: The role and responsibility of independent journalism

Targeted disinformation and orchestrated fake news campaigns are increasingly influencing election around the world, undermining free opinion formation, and endangering the social cohesion of our liberal democracies. There is no question: free and independent journalism plays an increasingly crucial role in the global context of growing disinformation.

But the threat to journalists has been increasing worldwide for years: Europe has experienced the sharpest deterioration in press freedom and freedom of expression in the last decade. Latin America remains one of the most dangerous regions for media professionals internationally.

Despite these threatening developments, there are numerous examples of courageous journalists facing these challenges – often under extremely difficult, sometimes life-threatening conditions. Through their research, investigative journalists uncover the workings and interconnectedness of right-wing networks around the world, their influence on and control of social media, and the spread of false news. In order to report on these interconnectedness and the associated dangers, it is important to be familiar with and able to classify the narratives, enemy images, and discourses of the extreme right. Investigative journalist Andrea Dip has spent years researching Christian fundamentalism in Brazi and has reported on right-wing strategies and narratives. The journalistic initiative "Nara," founded by Berta Tilmantė from Vilnius, aims not only to conduct investigative research but also to improve readers' media literacy through workshops in schools and universities, so that fake news campaigns receive less of a response, especially among young people. 

Questions:

• What are successful journalistic counter-strategies that promise success in different national contexts? How can journalists better network internationally to jointly combat disinformation?
• What role does the funding of independent, investigative media play in this context?
• How can fact-based opinion-forming and the public's media literacy be strengthened again?

We want to talk to:

• Berta Tilmantė; Co-Founder, Multimedia Journalist
  Having traveled and worked in five continents and more than 60 countries, Berta returned to Lithuania to create NARA (formerly Nanook). After graduating from Vilnius University with a degree in journalism and a course in photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism, Berta went on to earn a master's degree in multimedia journalism (Beijing University of Foreign Studies [China] / Bolton University [UK]). Working as a freelance multimedia journalist, Berta has lectured at Vilnius and Gediminas Technical universities. She also leads various training courses and creative workshops.
   
• Andrea Dip, investigative journalist
  She is an author of the book “In Whose Name? The Evangelical Caucus and its Project for Power” and a researcher. She has received 16 journalism awards. Andrea currently lives in Berlin and is a member of the Research Against Global Authoritarianism Project (ReGA), a guest researcher at Freie Universität and presents a weekly podcast at the Agência Pública de Jornalismo Investigativo in Brazil. She is also a columnist for the Brazilian news channel ICL and researches the rise of Christian fundamentalism in Latin America, its effects on the rights of women and the LGBTQIA+ community, the European far right and the connections between religion, authoritarianism, moral panic and ultra-conservatism.
   
• Sophie Timmermann has been with CORRECTIV since 2021 and heads the fact-checking team. She previously worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Office at Geneva. As a journalist, she researched US-led coalition airstrikes in Syria, disinformation during the coronavirus pandemic in California and the rise of alternative media in the UK. She studied international relations in the Netherlands and journalism in Denmark, the USA and Wales and has also lived in Peru and Chile.
   
• Diana Salinas is a journalist and editorial director of Cuestión Pública, a digital, feminist and investigative media she co-founded to scrutinize power, its conflicts and privileges. She was born in Cali, where she studied literature at the Universidad del Valle. In 2007 she moved to Buenos Aires to pursue a Master's degree in Journalism at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. Since then she has consolidated a career with 14 years of experience, which includes a formative period at Noticias Uno, an internship at La Nación (Argentina) and investigative work at RCN Televisión, W Radio and Consejo de Redacción. She has received four Simón Bolívar Awards and with Cuestión Pública she has been awarded international recognitions such as the King of Spain (2023). She is currently writing her first book, which will be published by Planeta in the second half of 2025.

There will be a small reception from 7:30pm.

Contact:
Mareike Bödefeld
Senior Programme Officer Latin America
E boedefeld@boell.de

Claudia Rothe
Senior Programme Officer European Union
E rothe@boell.de

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