SAIS @ Perugia Published on 27.04.2026

Jascha Bareis on the IJF 2026 festival

Jascha Bareis from SAIS visited the wonderful international journalist Festival in Perugia to present the Hype Literacy Toolkit.

What is hype and how can journalists escape the tired binary of doomsday vs. paradise when reporting on AI?

That was the central question raised in the panel session "Hype Literacy" at the International Journalism Festival. The room was packed! 

Journalists play a central role in deciding which stories gain traction, whose voices appear authoritative, and which visions of the future become publicly plausible.

Hype literacy is about strengthening democratic accountability. It helps societies understand how the future is negotiated and whose interests dominate that negotiation.

Karen Allen, Jascha Bareis, Christo Buschek, and moderator Steffen Leidel unpacked how narratives around tech innovations like artificial intelligence are constructed – and how journalists can learn to decode them.

- Karen shared research on AI coverage in South Africa and Kenya, showing how reporting often "flip-flops between euphoria and dystopia."
- Christo challenged claims about ever-smarter AI, arguing that most of this is marketing: “There are no suitable tools to measure the competencies of today’s models.”
- Jascha left the audience with a simple reminder:

“Hype is never accidental. It is built. And it can be deciphered.”

You can watch the full session here

Or check out the nice sketch notes by Jana Wiese to get a direct impression what was talked about on the panel: