ABC chair Kim Williams quotes JD Vance as he warns of sliding trust in media and its impact on democracies
ABCThe chair of the ABC has sounded the alarm on the health of democracy around the world, citing US vice-presidential candidate JD Vance's commentary about diminishing trust in institutions as a warning for Australian media organisations. "Remove truth and you get a screaming match that creates and channels anger and hatred," Mr Williams said during the annual Sir John Monash Oration in Sydney. "Having grown up in a world of ubiquitous social media and identity politics, some of Baron's younger journalists were starting to regard themselves not as objective reporters but as activists and partisans," Mr Williams said. Financial pressures imperilling media organisations Mr Williams said the ABC's journalists were "capable of remarkable work" and had "demonstrated it time and again", and he wanted to "up the energy of serious journalism" at the taxpayer-funded institution. Mr Williams also took a swipe at the conduct of media baron Keith Murdoch, father of billionaire News Corp chairman emeritus Rupert Murdoch, as having pushed "fake news" during World War I.
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