Conversations with Bertrand Borg

Welcome to this special episode of the 3CL Foundation podcast, recorded in preparation for the upcoming Young People's Summit.

Host Nina Shangelia is joined by Bertrand Borg, the Online Editor at the Times of Malta, who will be attending the 3cl young people's summit.
In this episode, we explore:

• The Digital Experience of Youth: Discussions reveal that young people in Malta primarily experience the internet through social media apps like Instagram and TikTok. A pattern observed over several years shows that university students increasingly rely only on social media for news, with not a single student in a recent class reporting going directly to a news site.

• Disinformation Risks: The reliance on social media leads to concerns about users receiving balanced feeds and checking sources. This can be highly dangerous, especially during pre-election periods, where young people may only see one side of a story based on out-of-context reels or concrete political messaging. Disinformation is a risk for people of all ages, though digital natives may be savvy enough to laugh at obvious scams (like the "prime minister trying to sell you cryptocurrency").

• Media Literacy Gaps: There is a recognised lack of media literacy across all segments of the population, including young people. This gap is amplified by algorithms that steer people toward singular perspectives, making it less likely they receive a broad spectrum of views.

• Journalism and AI: The Times of Malta, where Mr. Borg serves as one of the editors, has an internal AI policy for journalists. Guidelines emphasise that journalists are not allowed to generate written content, photos, or images using AI; a "human in the loop" is required for any work involving AI. The newsroom uses custom GPTs to help journalists identify flaws or brainstorm follow-up and interview questions.

• The Challenge of LLMs and Monetisation: A significant challenge for smaller publishers, like the Times of Malta, is the increasing use of Large Language Models (LLMs) as search tools, which scrape content from news sites. While large outlets like the New York Times can sue or sign multimillion-dollar deals, smaller publishers lack these options when platforms show little regard for copyrighted or trademarked materials. Mr Borg argues that LLMs would be useless without the inputs provided by news outlets, artists, and creatives, necessitating a revenue share model to support the "free press".

• Combating Misinformation and Competing Online: The Times of Malta combats misinformation by running the only formal fact-checking service in Malta, collaborating with the Med network and often responding to reader-generated fact-check requests. To survive financially against sensationalist content, the outlet has introduced a paywall strategy, focusing on its core mission: providing relevant, novel, and insightful information that leverages the strengths of its reporters.

• Advice for Aspiring Journalists: Mr. Borg advises those considering journalism to very actively seek out perspectives different from the one they hold on any given issue. This helps them understand potential critics, see the many sides of a story, and understand how others interpret facts, ensuring they are not "preaching to the choir".

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Learn more about the 3CL Young People's Summit: https://www.3cl.org/3cl-young-peoples...