Industry leaders were today urged to ‘shout louder’ about the ‘amazing journalism’ coming out of the UK media as an antidote to misinformation and news avoidance.

Society of Editors president Sarah Whitehead said that the industry needed to do more to highlight the “brilliant and extraordinary” journalism it creates as she addressed its annual conference in London.

Sarah, who is director of newsgathering and operations at Sky News, paid tribute to the work of broadcast, national and regional titles over the past 12 month, often in the face of abuse.

She argued that news avoidance, misinformation and disinformation will only be countered by “big bold journalism.”

Said Sarah, pictured: “We need to talk much, much more about the extraordinary work that we do, the stories we tell, the journalism that has led to a change in laws for the better, the scandals that journalism has unearthed, the corruption that journalism reveals and the journalism that demands an answer.

“Of course that’s what we do every day on our platforms, we publish great journalism but we need to talk about the very best of it so much more and over a longer period of time.

“We do need our audience to connect with us and it is sobering to realise that a lack of trust and the fact that journalists are currently unpopular means that our brilliant journalists are being abused and worse out doing their jobs.

“Journalists standing in the world has implications for the safety of our teams. That discussion comes in the form of horrific events involving journalists on the battlefield but it’s really close to home too.”

Sarah concluded that by “shouting louder and more often about the amazing journalism we do” the industry’s work will speak for itself.

“Big bold journalism will stand head and shoulders above misinformation and disinformation, it will challenge news avoidance,” she added.

“So we have to believe in the boldest and hardest stories and stick with it and when people really understand the impact that the work we do has on society then they can make their own minds up.

“Our journalism is our currency. And the journalism that the British media does is extraordinary and should be celebrated.”