Noticiero Univision Edicion Nocturna Anchor Elián Zidán: “One Of The Biggest Challenges For News Is AI”

Mexican journalist Elián Zidán, 30, who for the past two years has anchored Noticiero Univisin Edicion Nocturna, believes that one of the biggest challenges for news is Artificial Intelligence (AI). “On one hand, it has helped us verify whether the photos, videos, or information we see on social media are real or not, but on the other hand, it also creates disinformation. I think that is the great challenge we are facing today, because when an event happens, most people have probably already seen it on their phone, already consumed it through social media. But we have to stop and ask why they return to traditional media—it’s because they want to be sure that what they saw on social media is true,” he points out.

He added that the trust in traditional media and the credibility of journalists “is the source and the bastion the community has today to verify everything they see on social media, and they can do it immediately.”

TEAMWORK

When asked about the challenge of leading a late-night newscast, Zidán—who before joining the national newscast in Miami in 2021 worked at Univision 41 News in New York—says: “I think the most important thing to remember is that you might be the face of the newscast, but behind that responsibility there’s a great team. It’s a team that arrives very early to verify information, to decide what will be covered, how it will be covered, and why it needs to be covered. So the responsibility lies in how we communicate a message as a team, because this is not just a personal job. Behind what you see on screen—and I try to say this every night when we finish the newscast—it’s a team effort. Without the team, this wouldn’t be possible.”

He noted that the challenge is being able to do something different from what’s already been reported all day because they are the broadcast that closes the channel’s news block.

“We have the responsibility of taking the baton, of saying, ‘This is what happened today, but this is what will impact you tomorrow.’ Many times, being the last allows you to be the first—especially since events happening in another time zone, in another part of the hemisphere, often occur while we are on the air. I think that no matter how late it is, no matter how late at night, we always have to stay on top of what’s happening, and that’s the mission,” he said.

He added that the greatest satisfaction he has as a reporter is seeing the impact his work has on someone’s life. “Whether on social media or in person, people come up to you and say, ‘Thank you for having spoken about, explained, or commented on something that affects me.’ And through information, I can also help in this very complex climate we are living in in the country—in terms of immigration and the economy. There are so many questions that might not have an immediate answer, but thanks to an interview with an expert, thanks to a piece of data, a statistic, many people today have tools—and having information is power. For many people, being informed today is more vital than ever.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

Zidán admits that at first he saw social media as a shallow space where people wanted to live an unreal life, where people flaunt things they don’t have.

“I didn’t post because of that, because I thought, ‘Since I don’t share that mentality or that lifestyle, people won’t care about what I do,’” he said. But then he realized he was “misunderstanding social media, because if I’m a journalist, my platform isn’t for people to see how I dress, where I travel, or what I eat—not at all. It’s an immediate way to share information. At first, I was worried about bombarding people with facts and events, but it turned out to be very positive, because for many people with such hectic lives, it’s the only way they stay informed,” he recounted.

He added that he’s heard people close to him say: “I only watch the news through your stories. I’ve learned about what’s happening in the world through Instagram. What a responsibility! One single person telling me that I am their source of information. If you post—as a reporter, as a journalist—you’re a journalist at all times, and that’s why you have to be very careful about what you share. Just because someone posts something on social media doesn’t make it true. And that’s where I apply a rule I learned in college: it’s better to be the last and have the correct information than to be the first and have the wrong information.”

THE ROLE OF A NEWS ANCHOR

For Zidán, the role of news anchors has also changed a lot—especially since the rise of digital platforms and bloggers.

“And I say this because when I started, I had zero anchor training. I never took any course on voice modulation. Before, to be a newsreader you had to learn a specific posture, how to sit in front of the camera. I think not having that training helped me—and I see it helping many others—because it’s more spontaneous, a more direct message. I think society got used to that, to the idea that if you’re in front of a camera, you don’t have to be perfect all the time,” he said.

TOOLS

Zidán also spoke about the tools that help him in his daily routine, including Google tools to detect misinformation and what’s known as a deep search. “For example, a photo. If you think a photo might be suspicious, I recommend that everyone put that image in Google’s image search and see if they find it in another article. Many times the photo is old. That also helps us now to detect if it was created with artificial intelligence. There are tools dedicated to that—to detecting whether a photo has been manipulated, and the same with video,” he said.

He added that “fortunately” they have a team of journalists dedicated to verifying all facts and events. “It’s a tool called El Detector. In fact, it was the first tool to verify misinformation. It was created precisely at a time when there was a social need to fact-check information—before we even knew the term ‘misinformation.’”

He highlighted that the El Detector team works exclusively on detecting misinformation. “It’s been a crucial tool, for example, in election campaigns, when Candidate A says something and Candidate B attacks, saying it’s not true. Who do viewers believe? Who does the public believe? It’s complicated because one says white and the other says black. This is where the team says, ‘This lacks context,’ or ‘This is false,’ or ‘This is true,’ or ‘This is questionable.’ It’s been around for many years, and many people use the WhatsApp channel to send an article or a question, and this great team of journalists helps them know whether it’s true or not, or whether the information they’re reading lacks context.”

ADVICE FOR YOUNG JOURNALISTS

Finally, Zidán offered advice to young people starting their reporting careers: never forget that you are reporters. “Be reporters all the time. Go out into the street. Even if your job is in a studio, where you may spend your days behind a desk, you have to go out into the street. That’s what I always ask for. I need to be in the street because above all, I am a reporter. I want to be where events happen, I want to know the information firsthand, I want to really see how society is. If you’re going to report on something, you have to know what you’re talking about. I can’t tell you that a certain community is living in fear if I haven’t seen it myself,” he concluded.