Last week at IAMCR 2026 in Galway, Dr. Melanie Radue had the chance to present on "Rethinking Journalistic Objectivity: Emotion and Al in Polarised Public Discourse."
Her argument: journalism's legitimacy crisis in polarised societies stems less from emotion itself than from a rigid objectivity paradigm. Recent research shows Al-generated responses are now rated as more empathetic than trained crisis experts — even when audiences know they're artificial. That's a real challenge for a profession built on human authenticity as its marker of trust.
She sees this less as a threat than a chance to rethink objectivity — not as the absence of emotion, but as its reflective management. AI could help journalism test empathetic, fact-grounded storytelling that reconnects with audiences without sacrificing integrity.
The stricter journalism's emotional abstinence, the more space it cedes to those who exploit emotion freely. In times of social anomie and demand for strong leaders, journalism can't afford to leave that battlefield to populists.
Her talk was part of the panel "Balancing Uses and Misuses of Artificial Intelligence in Political Information and Communication", organized by Philippe Maarek. Dr. Radue expressed that she had great discussions with fellow panelists as well as the audience.
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