The media often conflates malicious criticism with genuine critique: why it shouldn’t.

This is an edited extract from Tell Our Story: Multiplying Voices in the News Media by Dale McKinley and Julie Reid.

“If journalism is a force of immense influence – and I think it is, and should be – then it surely deserves scrutiny.” These are the words of Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian in London.

News media sector representatives, journalists and editors often respond to criticism of the press with assertions that the freedom and independence of the news media must be protected at all costs. This is often an almost automatic knee-jerk reaction. For many, the freedom of the press is an infallible sacred cow. This line of argument is sometimes well placed. But at other times it is decidedly manipulative and unhelpful.

There is no question that the world’s investigative news media suffers significant strain. This results, in part, from the difficulties of financial sustainability and the crisis of credibility associated with campaigns that set out to delegitimise the media as well as fake news.

But it is also becoming increasingly more dangerous to be a journalist, especially for women. Direct threats to journalists are on the increase across the world. This includes assassinations, death threats and intimidation, arrests and detention, or online trolling.”

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