A Global Call to Action: 11 Leading Economists Advocate for Free Media in AI Age

The economists, including two Nobel laureates, have called on nations to invest in new models to support media.

A high-level panel comprising 11 leading economists across the world, including two Nobel Prize winners, have urged "urgent action" to invest in public interest media to counter "unprecedented repression, rampant AI-driven disinformation, and severe revenue declines intensified by the dominance of Big Tech".

(Photo: Arnica Kala/The Quint)

"Public interest media are like the central banks of the informational economy—providing the confidence in the system that is necessary for it to function."

A high-level panel comprising 11 leading economists across the world, including two Nobel Prize winners, have urged "urgent action" to invest in public interest media to counter "unprecedented repression, rampant AI-driven disinformation, and severe revenue declines intensified by the dominance of Big Tech".

Nobel Prize winners Joseph Stiglitz and Daron Acemoğlu, along with nine other economists, on 22 September, Monday published a statement—titled The Economic Imperative of Investing in Public Interest Media, coinciding with the UN General Assembly session in New York.

The panel was formed to assess the risks to the economy and society due to the constant degradation of public interest media. "We, the members of the panel, have reviewed the evidence and surveyed the global trends with a growing sense of alarm. In what follows, we set out the case for investing in the informational economy and adequately structuring markets to secure it," the economists note, adding that there is substantial return on investment that comes from supporting independent, reliable, and pluralistic journalism.

The economists' analysis not only discusses the political and democratic consequences of free information, but also delves into its economic significance—an aspect that, they say, has largely been overlooked.

The panel further emphasises that while AI has the potential to revolutionise various sectors, "it alone cannot drive economic growth or address the rampant inequality we face. Instead, a robust framework for free and reliable information is essential to navigate the challenges ahead."

Panel Calls on Nations To Safeguard Free Media

The 11 authors further state that public interest media plays an essential role in guaranteeing proper information supply and ensuring its quality.

In this regard, the panel has called on governments to:

1. Invest in new models to support and safeguard free and independent media. This means that public support and investment in public interest media must be increased both nationally and internationally, including, for example, through the implementation of a digital services tax.

2. Shape the media ecosystem through a new generation of “information industrial policies” that will better regulate the market and reduce the informational divide.

Apart from Stiglitz and Acemoğlu, the other signatories of the statement are Philippe Aghion, Tim Besley, Francesca Bria, Dame Diane Coyle, Obiageli Ezekwesili, Mariana Mazzucato, Atif Mian, Andrea Prat, and Vera Songwe.

The Forum on Information and Democracy, a non-profit under whose umbrella the economists have come together, was founded by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and a group of leading institutions on digital rights, media and human rights. The group facilitates the implementation of the International Partnership for Information and Democracy, launched by France in 2019 and endorsed by 56 signatory states worldwide.