World Journalists Focus on Fake, Fact and Self-Regulation at WJC2022

Cambodia News

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (25 April 2022): Dozens of journalists from Russia, the US, West and East Europe, Asia, as well as Africa met today in the World Journalists Conference (WJC2022) to discuss their roles and common issues – Fake News, Fact Checking and Self-Regulatory Activities.

The two-day conference kicked off on Monday is organized by the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK), in a hybrid format in Seoul with participation of 70 journalists, journalism experts and professors from 45 countries and they also share their different experiences, views and challenges with solutions on the issue.
Speaking in his remarks at the opening ceremony, JAK President Kim Dong Hoon said “We may have differences in country of origin, gender, ethnicity and ideology, but we all have one thing in common. We all work hard for freedom and peace by spreading the truth with cool heads but warm hearts.”
In his congratulatory message to the WJC2022, Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said that he hoped all participants of this year conference would pave the way to create a ‘healthy community’ by sharing their knowledge under the spirit of solidarity and cooperation.
Sharing his comment for the first day theme, Mr. Chhay Sophal, Media Professor from Cambodia, expressed his view on news and information from the war in Ukraine.
“Fake news and information hurling about both sides [Ukraine and Russia] and for sure, such news and information have made the world confusing sometimes. I don’t mean fake news and information have been produced by our Ukrainian and Russian journalist friends but can be the third parties and even “Citizens Journalists,” said Professor Sophal.
“Then, the COVID-19 epidemics. Fake news and information, especially on social media, on the number of death tools and deadly vaccination. I think such fake news and information did not only have in Cambodia but also other conners of the world,” he said by adding that that’s why, Fact Checking is never ignored but strongly taken by those who work in journalism at the time of “War of ideologies and war of geo-politic zones for respective interests” among the Big and the Rich.
“Don’t let Fake News and Information be a “chronic disease” but we must join hand together to treat it,” he said.
Sophal also launching his question to the conference that “the war between Russia and Ukraine, some countries have closed Russian news channels while social media networks have been doing the same. So how can we balance news and information and how can we check and verify news and information about the Russian side?”
Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Editor-in-Chief of The Silk Road Literature Series,  from Egypt said self-regulatory organizations could be referring to the entities of public law or private entities.
“They are organizations with authority to adopt regulations of professional business activities and control over their observance. I believe that if they are following the professional rules of journalism, they will not produce fake news or false facts, said Ashraf.
In some Middle Eastern countries, a person with 5000 or more followers on social media will be judged by law as a source of news, similar to ordinary bodies of journalism; such as newspapers, magazines, networks and websites; hence publishing fake news will put this person under the law, with the accusation of publishing fake news, he said by adding that the question is: Who is checking whether facts are true or false?
Ashraf affirmed that in authoritative countries published news are false when they are criticizing the ruling regime and that “…..in the Ukrainian- Russian War, if you watch a state-run TV channel, as RT, you will find facts totally opposite what other American or European TV channels showing, as CNN or France 24….The freedom of information resources is a successful way to know more, and continue checking facts.”
The annual WJC has been held since 2013 and the WJC2022 is focusing on two main topics — the first day on “Current status of fact-checking by global journalism and the operation of media’s self-regulatory organization”, and the second day on “A society changed by journalism,” looking into each country’s best practices in journalism that have brought changes to their respective society.