By Dr Dayang Aizza Maisha Abang Ahmad
THESE words framed much of the discussion at the panel titled ‘Media’s Role in an Era of Information Complexity: Trust, Truth and Timeless’, held at the Sarawak Media Conference (SMeC) 2026 on July 16 at Pullman Kuching. Bringing together voices from academia, mainstream media and digital media, the session tackled one of journalism’s most pressing challenges: how to preserve public trust within an information ecosystem that is increasingly fragmented and technology-driven.
Moderated by Sarah Hafizah Chandra, News Editor of Tribune Press Sdn Bhd, the panel featured Datuk Hajjah Norhyati Haji Mohd Ismail, chairman of Sarawak Media Group Sdn Bhd; Professor James Chin, Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Tasmania; and Rita Sim Sai Hoon, founder of Kupikupi FM Sabah & Sarawak.
Each panellist spoke from a different professional vantage point, yet all three converged on the same conviction: journalism remains indispensable, even as its relationship with the public is being fundamentally redrawn.
Trust is no longer given, it must be earned
The clearest message of the session was that authority alone no longer guarantees credibility.
According to Norhyati, trust has moved from being institutional to being personal. Where audiences once accepted information from governments, mainstream media and established institutions with little scepticism, credibility today is constantly tested. Readers no longer ask only whether a story is true. They ask who is telling it, why and whose interests it ultimately serves so that the messenger has become almost as important as the message itself.
Even so, Norhyati stressed that mainstream media retained a vital role as an anchor of verification, particularly during crises and major public events, when misinformation could spread fastest.
Living with information complexity, not information scarcity
For Rita Sim Sai Hoon, the defining feature of today’s media environment is not a lack of information but an overwhelming complexity of it.
“People are no longer struggling to access information,” she said. “Instead, they are struggling to determine which information deserves their trust.”
The digital ecosystem has opened unprecedented access to news and opinion but it has just as quickly generated competing narratives, algorithm-driven content and misinformation at extraordinary speed. Public trust, as a result, has become fluid and conditional, audiences now weigh a story’s factual accuracy against the motivations behind it and whether it serves the public interest or simply an organisational agenda. That shift alone has changed the terms of the relationship between journalists and the people they serve.
Competence remains the foundation of credibility
For Professor James Chin, rebuilding public trust takes more than accurate reporting alone, it requires sustained professional competence.
Credibility, he argued, was built through consistency, editorial discipline and the ability to explain complex issues clearly and responsibly. Technical reporting, particularly on economics, energy, science and public policy, is especially demanding when stories are often compressed into a few hundred words, yet audiences still expect depth, context and accuracy.
Today’s readers are also more discerning than previous generations. They compare sources, run their own searches and verify claims before accepting them. Trust, in other words, is no longer assumed; it must be demonstrated again and again through journalistic excellence.
Citizen journalism: challenge or opportunity?
The panel also turned to the growing influence of citizen journalism.
Sim acknowledged its democratic value, amplifying marginalised voices, broadening participation in public discourse and lowering the traditional barriers to publication. But the same democratisation of publishing has weakened conventional editorial gatekeeping. Without verification, ethical standards or editorial oversight, misinformation can travel just as fast as verified fact.
Rather than treating citizen journalists as rivals, Sim proposed a more collaborative future, one where professional journalists worked alongside citizen reporters while holding the line on verification and ethics.
Norhyati echoed this collaborative view but added a caution specific to Malaysia’s multicultural context, where responsible reporting must remain sensitive to race, religion and culture and appropriate regulatory frameworks still had a role to play in safeguarding social harmony while encouraging constructive dialogue between professional and citizen journalists.
Chin observed that despite widespread social media use, Malaysians still turned to mainstream media to confirm important news, particularly during elections, crises and emergencies. Independent fact-checking, he noted, remained central to journalism’s public service mission.
Balancing public service with sustainable media
One of the panel’s more thought-provoking exchanges concerned the tension between journalism’s public service mission and the financial sustainability of media organisations.
Norhyati was firm that journalism must remain, first and foremost, a public service. Media organisations need sustainable revenue to operate but commercial interests should never compromise editorial independence. A clear separation must exist between the newsroom and commercial operations so that editorial decisions answer to public interest rather than advertiser influence. As audience habits and advertising patterns kept shifting, she said, media organisations needed business models that complemented their journalistic responsibilities rather than undercut them.
Sim built on this, noting that digital advertising driven mainly by click-through rates now generated limited returns and could no longer serve as a primary revenue source. She argued instead for strategies built around people, purpose and public engagement, reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives, alongside public service programmes and strategic partnerships, gave media organisations room to create value while staying true to their societal role.
Norhyati pointed to feature stories on organisations such as PETROS, focused on how their initiatives benefitted the people of Sarawak, as an example of journalism that informed the public while also strengthening investor confidence and demonstrating the wider value of responsible corporate citizenship. Such reporting, she suggested, let media organisations meet their public service responsibility while building meaningful partnerships with organisations committed to community development and sustainable growth.
The discussion returned, in the end, to a simple point, that sustainable journalism rested not on commercial success alone but on genuine engagement with society.
As Sim put it, “People trust people.” Authentic storytelling grounded in real social impact strengthens the relationships between media organisations, institutions and the communities they serve. Reflecting on today’s digital environment, she offered one of the session’s most memorable lines, “Social media is not social,” a reminder that despite unprecedented connectivity, trust is still built through human relationships, credible journalism and stories that genuinely matter.
Artificial intelligence: A tool, not a replacement
No conversation about journalism today is complete without Artificial Intelligence.
Chin acknowledged that AI was reshaping journalism at remarkable speed, particularly within newsrooms across Sabah and Sarawak. The real question, he argued, was not whether AI should be used but how journalists could use it responsibly. AI can sharpen newsroom efficiency, speed up research and take on routine tasks but it cannot replace human editorial judgement.
Sim reinforced the point, arguing that editorial decisions called for ethical reasoning, contextual understanding and public accountability, qualities that remained uniquely human. She also stressed the growing importance of mentoring young journalists; for instance, newsroom coaching between experienced and emerging reporters, she said, would matter even more in the AI era, as professional values risked being crowded out by technological efficiency.
Timeless values in a changing media landscape
The discussion ranged across emerging technologies, digital disruption and shifting audience behaviour, yet it kept returning to one central idea: technology might transform how journalism was practised, but it did not change why journalism existed.
Public trust still depends on truth, integrity, accountability and service to society. As audiences grow more critical, information more complex and AI more capable, journalism’s greatest competitive advantage may no longer be speed. It will be credibility. In an era where anyone can publish within seconds, professional journalism’s enduring responsibility is not merely to be first; it is to be trusted.
The discussion at SMeC 2026 ultimately reinforced that journalism was more than the business of producing news. It is a profession grounded in public service, sustained by ethical practice and strengthened through meaningful partnerships with communities and organisations. As the media landscape continues to evolve, preserving trust will depend not only on technological adaptation but also on an unwavering commitment to truth, transparency and humanity, principles that remain as relevant today as they have ever been.
● Dr Dayang Aizza Maisha Abang Ahmad is a senior lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) specialising in strategic communication.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune.
