‘Choose Truth’: Media fraternity marks World News Day to stress importance of fact-based journalism

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The global journalism industry on Saturday is celebrating World News Day — an awareness campaign run by the news media industry every year on September 28 — to amplify the value of fact-based reporting.

The theme chosen for this year’s campaign is ‘Choose Truth’, designed by South African newsroom Daily Maverick’s Project Kontinuum.

WAN-IFRA’s World Editors Forum and The Canadian Journalism Foundation have organised the campaign.

The campaign, initiated by Globe and Mail Editor-in-Chief David Walmsley in 2017, was supported by more than 500 newsrooms during its previous iteration.

Choose Truth is the first campaign from Project Kontinuum, a Daily Maverick-incubated effort to reaffirm news media’s positive role in the global community.

The campaign is Project Kontinuum’s blueprint for future collaborations. A key message of the campaign include supporting fact-based journalism/media, or risking losing it.

#JournalismMatters and #ChooseTruth are also among the messages that are to be amplified.

Dawn is one of several newsrooms joining the World News Day campaign this year.

Other media organisations collaborating in this event are The Telegraph, Financial Times, Press Trust of India, Global Investigative Journalism Network, and The Guardian Foundation.

Fact-based journalism strengthens democracy: NA speaker

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq said that the role of journalism in promoting truth was of “key importance”, appreciating the services of journalists and media organisations.

He said that investigative and fact-based journalism strengthened democracy and paid tribute to the journalists sacrificing their lives to “bring out the truth”.

Speaker Sadiq added that the lower house of the parliament would continue its role of protecting the freedom of expression.

Additional input by Irfan Sadozai