Reporters Without Borders (RSF), together with 190 media outlets worldwide — including Agence France Presse (AFP) and Radio Taiwan International (RTI) — have signed an open letter calling on the tech giants behind major online platforms to recognise journalism as an essential public good and take concrete steps to promote reliable information by integrating the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) in their algorithms.
Read the open letter to tech giants
A structured response to face the crisis of confidence
The challenges facing journalism — disinformation, declining public trust and mounting financial strain on newsrooms — are manifold, but they all converge online. This doesn’t just endanger the news media — it threatens democracy worldwide.
In an open letter, RSF and over 190 media outlets urge the digital platforms shaping the way billions of people access information to take responsibility for their role in the spread of information and promote trustworthy news sources.
“Despite the availability of this powerful solution, the Journalism Trust Initiative’s potential remains largely untapped. This is where online platforms must step up. By prioritising JTI-certified outlets in search results, newsfeeds and recommendation systems, they could curb disinformation and allow reliable information to reach wider audiences. These tech giants could also stabilise the news economy if they developed fair compensation models for outlets whose content drives audience engagement.” Benjamin Sabbah, Director, Journalism Trust Initiative
The Journalism Trust Initiative: a concrete, proven tool
Created by RSF in collaboration with more than 130 international experts, the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) is a recognised professional standard that sets clear criteria for transparency, ethics, and editorial independence. It enables:
- Citizens to identify reliable sources;
- Advertisers to support responsible media outlets;
- Platforms to amplify content that adheres to professional journalistic standards.
Three clear demands for digital platforms
In the joint letter, RSF and over 190 media outlets call on the tech giants behind major online information platforms to:
- Recognise journalism as an essential public good;
- Integrate the JTI signal into their algorithms (search engines, social media, recommendation systems, etc.);
- Give greater visibility to JTI-certified media by making them more accessible to the public.
