In a world in which misinformation floods social networks and sneaks in through artificial intelligence (AI), credibility is the main asset that traditional media have, said this Wednesday the chief executive officer of GFR Media, Rafael Lama Bonilla.
For the journalist – who was one of the panelists at the forum “The Evolution of the Media and the future of sales in the Automotive Industry”, which was held by the United Group of Car Importers at Vivo Beach Club, in Carolina, the media, including the press, radio and television, must become a “lighthouse” in the midst of a “storm” of false information that is not only generated by humans but also by platforms driven by algorithms.
“It is not only ‘fake news’, it is also the creation, through artificial intelligence, of content that may be false or may be distorted,” stated Lama Bonilla.
“Our job is to continue strengthening that verticality, that journalistic rigor, and be that beacon where people will define: ‘ok, what came out there is a fake news or this is partially incorrect. That is the great value of our media and that is why we invest so much in rigorous journalism and in all the platforms that we allow to ensure that reliability,” added the executive of the company that publishes the newspapers El Nuevo Día and Primera Hora.
Part of GFR Media’s investment to strengthen the credibility of its publications included adding El Nuevo Día to The Trust Project, an international consortium of news media that seeks to ensure that its participants meet the highest journalistic standards by adhering to its “8 Trust Indicators” guide.
The indicators, Lama Bonilla recalled, allow the audience to recognize reliable news more easily.
“The eight pillars ensure credibility, journalistic rigor, how you give platforms to different audiences, how you give voice to the community and how you ensure that if you make a mistake you correct it,” he explained.
The Trust Project integrates a global network of more than 200 media outlets -The Washington Post, El País, The Economist, BBC, El Comercio, among others.
“This project (The Trust Project) gives us a seal of credibility and, in addition, helps us with Google, Bing and all the search engines, because it gives a signal that prioritizes that content because it identifies it out there as content with greater credibility. And that helps traffic and helps ‘engagement,'” he noted.
“We have invested in that because we know that, in this sea of misinformation, we need not only to reach the audience, but also for our clients’ messages to reach the correct target and arrive with the credibility that is needed,” he added.
Lama Bonilla highlighted that a good part of user searches on different topics, including the purchase of a vehicle, are produced through AI.
However, he claimed that the content presented on the platforms is not free of errors, since it lacks the filters that traditional media have.
“The issue of negotiations between the media and artificial intelligence companies now revolves around giving credit and links to be able to go to that media and verify the source,” considered Lama Bonilla.
Faced with this scenario, the executive established that the media have a “greater importance for the future,” since, in his opinion, they have the capacity to become a place for verifying information in the midst of a “sea of misinformation.”
Salvador Hasbún, president of El Vocero, and Yamil Ruiz, president of Vision News Media, also participated in the forum, who agreed that the media is gaining relevance.
“This is not an era where we have an excess of information, it is an era where there is an excess of misinformation. Because in reality, this has become increasingly complicated due to what everyone knows about ‘deepfakes’ and now artificial intelligence, which has come to complicate the matter even more,” Hasbún shared.
Meanwhile, Ruiz maintained that “the best thing that the news media do is a rigorous process of verifying all the content that comes out, something that is also important for brands.”