Sharon Moshavi Discusses the Importance of Facts in Journalism Amid Disinformation Concerns

In a recent episode of the “Ink and Insights” podcast, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) President Sharon Moshavi offered a nuanced perspective on journalism’s future amid rapid technological change and mounting financial pressures. The wide-ranging discussion with host Sumit Sharma Sameer explored how AI is simultaneously creating opportunities and challenges for newsrooms worldwide.

Moshavi expressed optimism about AI’s potential to alleviate resource constraints in cash-strapped newsrooms. “What excites me is the workflow piece – it’s the doing more with less,” she explained, noting that the collapse of traditional business models has left most news organizations severely understaffed. Rather than replacing journalists, she views AI as a potential lifeline: “It’s not about getting rid of people’s jobs. There are not gonna be journalism jobs if we don’t solve the business model and the resource issues.”

However, Moshavi didn’t shy away from identifying serious concerns about AI’s impact on the industry. She highlighted three primary challenges: the acceleration of disinformation, the exploitation of journalistic content for AI training without compensation, and declining web traffic as readers increasingly rely on AI-generated summaries rather than clicking through to original reporting.

“You can do disinformation at scale, at warp speed with AI, and that is very challenging,” Moshavi warned. She noted that while a few major news organizations have secured licensing deals with AI companies, most publishers are seeing their content used without payment. This exploitation comes with additional costs: “Websites are being crawled by so many AI bots that they’re crashing. So now your website cost just went up.” More alarmingly, she cited reports of news publishers seeing traffic drop by 20-30% as readers consume AI summaries instead of visiting original sources.

When asked about essential innovations for newsrooms, Moshavi emphasized the importance of “forensic analysis” to combat the increasingly polluted information ecosystem. “It’s not enough to do whack-a-mole,” she said, advocating for more sophisticated approaches to identify and investigate disinformation networks. She stressed the need for innovative audience engagement strategies that can break through the noise of false information.

Despite these challenges, Moshavi remains hopeful about journalism’s future, drawing inspiration from industry pioneers who are experimenting with new models and approaches. “What gives me the most hope is that there are people trying to do things so differently,” she said, highlighting ICFJ’s role in providing resources and connections for journalists to experiment across disciplines.

For early-career journalists feeling overwhelmed by industry turbulence, Moshavi offered practical advice: develop deep expertise in specific subject areas rather than trying to be generalists, and build technological literacy, particularly around AI. “You’ve got to understand what it can do, what it cannot do, where the dangers are,” she emphasized. “That is absolutely crucial for the next generation of journalists.”

Reflecting on her desired legacy, Moshavi articulated a commitment to factual reality in an era of competing narratives. She cited former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s famous observation that “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. They’re not entitled to their own facts.” While acknowledging that perspective shapes understanding, she maintained that objective reality still matters: “There is no such thing as absolute and ultimate truth. But, a phone is a phone.”

Moshavi concluded by expressing her hope to be remembered as someone who pushed the industry to evolve beyond traditional approaches. “We cannot trade in what we’ve always done, and we need to be willing to think differently,” she said. “Only then are we going to get to that world I like where facts reign.”