Keynote at the International Media Conference in Albania

I had the honor to give the keynote speech at the International Conference on Communication and Media studies organized by Bedër University College in collaboration with University of Tirana and University of Pristina. The conference was held in Tirana, Albania, on November 17th, 2022.

Talk title: The Audience Logic as an Antidote to the “Crisis of Trust” in Journalism

Abstract: Trustworthiness cuts at the core of Journalism’s identity in society. At the same time, journalism plays an important role in the process of developing trust, not only for itself, but also for other social institutions. Yet, trust in news has collapsed to historic lows globally, as partisan voices become more accessible online signaling and aiding the deepening of social polarization. The internet can't be fully blamed for the erosion of media trust, though, and traditional news media have been forced to reckon with internal institutional problems. To reverse this trend, many newsrooms have started to turn their attention towards their audiences in a trend widely known as “the audience turn” in journalism. In this presentation, I discuss research and practical models on how audience engagement with the news can help regain trust in quality journalism in an age of information overload and disinformation.

Conference program link.