Show Notes
Australia’s democracy is the 6th oldest in the world yet despite having an independent electoral system that’s the envy of the western world, vulnerabilities are beginning to crack. 2024 was dubbed a “super election year”, with more than half the world’s population eligible to vote in elections.
Former political editor Michelle Ainsworth travelled on a Winston Churchill Fellowship to the US, the UK and Finland. She hoped to explore why trust in democracy was declining while audiences are turning away from traditional news sources.
This is the first episode of Truth, Trust and Democracy, a new seven-part series that examines polarisation in politics and the media, the spread of misinformation and disinformation via social media and the impact of generative AI in elections.
Later episodes will look at the role of publicly funded broadcasters and local journalism, fact checking and media literacy.
This episode includes interviews with: Marty Baron, former Editor of the Washington Post and author of “Collision of Power” Agustina Callegari, Global Coalition for Digital Safety, World Economic Forum Tom Rogers, former Australian Electoral Commissioner Publications cited: Edelman Trust Barometer 2025 WEF 2025 Global Risks Report Strengthening Australian Democracy - Dept of Home Affairs AEC Democracy Rules website Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Truth, Trust and Democracy
In this episode Michelle explores why Wales, a small country in the United Kingdom, is trying to stop autocracy in its tracks, with a proposal to stop politicians from lying. She talks to a sitting MP, legal expert and a democracy campaigner to understand what’s on the table.
In this final episode Michelle Ainsworth explores why everyone needs strong media and digital literacy skills to help navigate our increasingly messy information ecosystem. She’ll also touch on the importance of civic engagement in a democracy. She’ll talk to experts in media and digital literacy, civics, former US government advisors and leading academics in disinformation.
Michelle Ainsworth explores the tools that are being used to tackle misinformation and disinformation, while at the same time keeping a healthy information ecosystem that produces accurate, trustworthy and reliable information, while still exposing people to a variety of ideas. She’ll talk to leading academics who work on pre-bunking initiatives, senior journalists and news executives, information integrity experts and disinformation specialists.
In this episode Michelle Ainsworth looks at why strong public service media organisations and local journalism are vital for keeping democracy in check at a grassroots level. She also explores the challenges facing political journalists who are working in an increasingly fragmented media landscape. She’ll talk to senior journalists and news executives, former US government advisors, information integrity experts and disinformation specialists.
Michelle Ainsworth explores how the hype around Generative AI and the 2024 year of elections panned out, and why technology guardrails are urgently needed to protect democracy. She’ll talk to experts in Generative AI and digital forensics. She also interviews former US government advisors, Australian election experts and disinformation specialists.