Between the talk of AI-native futures, soaring startup valuations and, yes, dancing robots, one theme at this year’s Web Summit in Lisbon felt more urgent than the rest: truth.
In a session titled “The Truth in the Age of Propaganda and Polarisation”, journalists and media leaders laid out how governments, corporations, and even algorithms are quietly reshaping the way the public understands reality.
It wasn’t just a warning for newsrooms, it was a wake-up call for anyone in communications. When truth starts to feel optional, trust begins to crumble. And trust is the raw material of our work as PR professionals.
When power redefines reality
The panel detailed how press freedom is being eroded through tactics that are quieter, subtler and far more effective than outright censorship. Across the US and Europe, five coordinated levers are being used to make independent reporting much harder:
- Legal and bureaucratic pressure: tax audits, investigations, and layers of oversight used as weapons.
- Strategic litigation: eye watering defamation cases designed to drain time and resources.
- Media capture: partisan outlets stepping in to replace independent voices.
- Economic pressure: funding cuts and advertiser influence squeezing newsrooms
- Narrative control: the use of terms like fake news to blur the line between fact and fiction.
The result isn’t open suppression – it’s exhaustion. As one speaker said, “You don’t need to silence the press if you can outlast it.”
When propaganda meets PR
Here’s the uncomfortable truth. Journalism and PR are not opposite. They rely on each other. Journalists need communicators for access, clarity and context. PR teams need journalists to challenge, verify, and provide credibility.
When journalism weakens, PR loses its anchor in reality. Without trusted media, storytelling simply becomes noise. Visibility replaces credibility. And influence starts to overshadow integrity.
For communicators, that’s not good news. As one speaker put it, “It’s not just the press’s right to ask questions that’s at risk – it’s the public’s right to know.” And that includes every audience we hope to reach.
AI and the amplification problem
If politics bends the truth through power, AI can distort it through scale.
Across the Summit, AI was everywhere, but most of the discussion stayed at surface level. It was praised for delivering productivity gains, and although people raised concerns about information integrity, few went any deeper.
AI can uncover truth, manipulate or bury it. It can help journalists search through vast datasets to find facts, or it can flood the web with falsehoods that look convincing enough to pass as fact. The distinction lies not in the technology, but in how it is used.
For communicators, that’s the real test. Are we using AI to clarify or to cloud? Audiences may accept imperfection but they won’t forgive deception. That’s entirely another matter and it’s why transparency is quickly becoming the new authenticity.
Brand authenticity in a distrust economy
Truth isn’t just a media issues, it’s a brand concern too. In a world where audiences are more informed, more sceptical and more perceptive than ever, authenticity has become a genuine competitive advantage.
The brands building trust today aren’t the ones shouting the loudest, but the ones communicating with intention. They are open about their decisions, their data practices, and the role AI plays in their work.
Polish still matters, but clarity and accountability are what build long term credibility.
For PR professionals, this shift does not diminish our role. It makes it more important.
Our job isn’t to appear neutral. It’s to help organisations communicate responsibly, openly and in a way that respects the intelligence of the people they speak to.
The responsibility to communicate truth
The message from Lisbon was clear: truth is not self-sustaining. It only survives through persistence.
- Keep reporting: journalists must continue to investigate, even when facing commercial or political pressure.
- Keep communicating: PR professionals must tell stories that can hold up under scrutiny.
- Keep educating: both sides must help audiences understand why credible information matters.
The freedoms that protect journalism, including the right to speak, to access information and to ask questions, are the same freedoms that make ethical communication possible.
Truth is no longer optional
So yes, AI was the most-used word of the week. and the robots really did dance. But away from the spectacle, the most serious conversation at Web Summit was about something far less futuristic and much more fundamental: truth.
Because in an age of algorithms, filters, and increasing polarisation, communicators simply cannot afford to sit on the sidelines and stay neutral. As PR professionals, we aren’t just shaping messages, we’re shaping the environment in which truth either survives or disappears. And that makes this the new battle for our profession.
About the author
Giulia Goodwin is Associate Director at Tyto. Based in the south of France, Giulia is in charge of advising and managing a portfolio of clients seeking high-level visibility.