How to cover politics in a toxic environment

Impartial political coverage is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve in a world divided along partisan lines. Some of the world’s leading journalists share their thoughts on how to cover politics in the modern world.

Political polarisation has long been a critical component of the news world. But with a recent upswing in far-right political ideals across the globe, and as the cancel culture wars rage on, where does political news coverage stand? Can journalists hope to cover politics in a balanced way while still finding a broad, popular readership that trusts in traditional media institutions?

International TV presenter, talk show host and journalist Ali Aslan thinks the media industry has played a part in its own fall from grace, “my worry and concern is about us trying to be a player, rather than controlling the player,”

“Something has got lost here, throughout the years, where the overall public, whose trust in us has declined, now views us as a part of the elite.”

Sara Goo, editor-in-chief at Axios, echoed this point, saying “we are in a cycle that has led to more distrust.”

The journalists went on to discuss how refocusing on political impartiality in all news coverage is crucial They also covered how traditional media outlets are using platforms such as TikTok to bring nuanced news to a wider audience that had foregone typical digital news mediums.

This panel brought together James Ball, global editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Sara Goo, editor-in-chief at Axios, and international TV presenter, talk show host and journalist Ali Aslan for a talk moderated by TheStreet anchor JD Durkin.

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Main image of a media interview with a business man: Microgen/Shutterstock