Charles Garside was an associate editor for The Daily Mail for 12 years. He has been in the journalism business a long time, from editing, reporting, and starting a news agency. He spoke to El Vaq about the future of journalism, A.I., and advice for the next generation.
Garside started out as an editor at an early age, going to the University of Central Lancashire, where on his first day working at the local newspaper in college, he got mistaken as an editor. He then moved on to work as a reporter and editor for newspapers like The Sun in 1980, The Times in 1987, and The European in the 90’s. In 2005, he found work as the managing editor at the Daily Mail, which had one of the biggest editorial budgets on Fleet Street, a historic area for big journalism. From 2006 to 2018, he was the assistant editor at The Daily Mail.
“I think it’s incumbent for young journalists to seek what the facts are,” said Garside.
When talking about the journalists of today and the future of journalism with the advancements in A.I., he stated “Journalists need to be seen as purveyors of the facts… more important than being first is being right.” With the increase of social media and A.I., false information can spread like wildfire. People can deliberately make fake headlines or deep fakes, an A.I. generated video or photo of someone’s voice or face. Being ahead is important, but being accurate is the bedrock of true journalism. It is important to tell the truth to the masses so people are making educated opinions and actions. “Each advance in tech brings huge pluses, but you know, things to be very wary of,” said Garside. A.I. can help make job tasks and guidelines easier,and can easily miss something. Up-and-coming journalists need to be aware of the danger of misinformation. It can cause rash effects and spread quickly such as widespread false opinions and facts.
He also noted the effects of the younger generation not reading news, and of unreliable sources. People are unable to question the outside world if they cannot read or critically think. “[If] People don’t actually question it…then you have a danger.” It is important for people to stay up to date on what affects them, their loved ones, and their environment. It starts a cycle of distrust that can snowball rapidly and lead to extreme opinions and decisions. The younger generation must be careful with accuracy, relatability, and impartiality by double-checking facts and being on top of the media.
Garside now works as the chairman of The Very Goode Group, and enjoys cricket and fly fishing in his free time. He actively participates in school journalism and television voting.
Janesa Brosnan can be reached at [email protected].