Why TikTok generation must be convinced that a free press is fundamental to democracy

Journalism wasn’t just what I did. It was who I was. I threw myself into every story, every bulletin in much the same way as I do now with politics, and for the same reason. Because it matters.

A free press is fundamental to a sound democracy. Sadly, I am increasingly convinced that we are in danger of losing those voices. Incredibly, a main culprit may be, by sheer dint of their own complacency, our traditional media.

Last week I awakened to the latest developments in a story that’s haunted me and many other reporters of my generation – the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. That May morning in 2007 is etched on my memory, emphasised by the emotional impact of interviewing Madeleine’s uncle just a few days later.

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Gerry McCann, seen with his wife Kate, has been speaking about the torment that he and his family were put through by some members of the media (Picture: Joe Giddens) | PA

Over the years I’ve felt frustration, metamorphosising into horror at the way the family’s already broken lives were invaded and abused by some in the media.

As a government adviser for part of the coalition, I felt during the Leveson inquiry on press intrusion, and argued afterwards as an MP, that effective press regulation could protect not only those who had been abused, but the press and media themselves.

This past week hearing Gerry McCann relating the details of what can only be described as the torment he and his family have been put through I felt that frustration again.

I’ve so much sympathy for journalists striving for the truth, holding politicians to account and fighting injustice. But none for those peddling the intimate details and heartbreak of the public.

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Not only because of the pain it causes those who never asked for the spotlight, but also because of the danger it poses to our democracy. If we are to protect that free speech, a crucial foundation of democracy, we need the press themselves to be aware that a major threat in a modern, social media-dominated environment, is the public backlash that can erupt from influential platforms.

The press must find a way to protect the truth, and a way to make people believe it. The media landscape in this country has already changed almost beyond recognition in the past decade since the original Leveson inquiry.

Right-wing influencers are everywhere. They show little respect for impartiality and too many of them, particularly on social media, are there simply to bring down opponents.

While we have not descended to the controlled and controlling depths of US media behaviour, the word ‘yet’ leaps to mind. We need the credibility of the BBC, the investigatory powers of Channel 4, and our respected newspapers to keep up the resistance.

For so many of this generation, TikTok is where they pick up news, true and fake, without a thought to that fact that it emanates not from some office in Edinburgh, London or elsewhere in the UK, but from a Beijing-controlled environment.

We need to rebuild public trust in our press. If we are to do that effectively, it must begin with the media themselves allowing independent scrutiny. I doubt a free press could survive another hacking-style scandal.

If that happens, and we lose them, everything else we hold dear about our democracy could be at risk.

Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West