Digital journalism matted among social networks

Enrique Castejon Lara

August 2016

Abstract
For the first time in its history, modern journalism is in risk of altering its essence as a social system of reliable information for society, as a result of an excessive use of the social networks unusual practices to attract readers

Today, humanity will not be the same without journalism and its extraordinary ability to adapt itself constantly and rapidly, as everything in it, to new technologies. Perhaps the greatest lethargy in this trend was the adoption of the steam engine to "automate" the printing process, however it was not the only business to take time to do so. Many industries waited until mid-nineteenth century to take the big step into modernity. Instead, the Times of London, at the pinnacle of the Industrial Revolution (1814), made a misplay to their printing workers and, overnight, left them unemployed.

Before that episode, that many theoreticians considered the beginning of modern media and the "objective journalism", newspapers already used the "revolutionary" and unstable telegraph technology (1844) which, according to some authors, generated the famous and emblematic "lead" of the news structure based on the "inverted pyramid". Reporters, then, had to transmit first a very short story summary to ensure that their media receive the essential information in case that the telegraphic communication failed.

Since then, the media has not stopped "greedily absorb" technologies: Telephone, radio, television, satellites, teletype, radiophoto, fax, phone and, of course, Internet and all the resources and tools associated with this innovative and versatile platform, including web sites and fast social networks.

It is precisely the latter one that led to this reflection. Social networks have meaning for the current journalism, at the same time, a blessing and a curse. They have accelerated and multiplied to the nth degree the chances of detecting newsworthy issues. However, they have also increased report manipulation problems, rumors and misinformation.

It is not the purpose of this paper deal, much less criticize, the so-called "citizen journalism" or "Journalism 2.0", but emphasize how important it is that academic organizations promote reflections about it. The central point of this article is to discuss the negative impact that social networks are generating on the journalistic information purpose, not only from the point of writing view (grammatical and semantic), but mainly from the most important perspectives: valuation of news issues and ethics.

The "new" news hierarchy

On behalf of the "temptation" of "hit-link" (equivalent to sensationalism in journalism), the "experts" in social networks —but not in mass communication— repeatedly appeal to the "art" of mystery or "intrigue", generating false news expectations among potential readers. Reiterated "cheating" ultimately leads to media credibility loss. That has been lived, almost on par, by advertisers and public relation people. There is a folk saying that states that man is the only animal that stumbles more than once with the same stone, but one day he realizes it and reacts firmly. Many products, in marketing history, were exceptional witnesses of that reality. The problem is that they no longer exist!
Serious journalism cannot fall into this "news" aberration. It cannot cheat with indefinitely impunity to its audience; much less get rid of professional valuation criteria to "adapt" itself to the "flexibility" and "informality" of the social networks. This affirmation is not to condemn social networks use in journalism, but to distinguish the two realities and properly combine them.

Generally we receive messages through social networks with expressions like "see", "learn", "amaze with what this personage said..." but no further details are given, and so that some people select the link provided finding after that totally baffled. Sometimes, for example, the “news” protagonist is not known by who visited the Web page or simply that person is not relevant for the local audience. 

Moreover, from a journalistic point of view it is highly worrying that the "reader" that was “taken” to a news Web page found that the headline of the "information" promoted by the "tweet" is exactly the same text that took him there, and not the most important news fact.

Journalism is based on a set of principles, values and techniques that are the product of many years of reflection and theoretical and practical improvement, as well as various processes of adaptation to new technologies and, above all, to the needs and demands of audiences.

Some of these techniques are the "inverted pyramid" and the 5WH formula. It is precisely the latter which should give the "strategists" of Twitter in journalism the "clues" to promote "visits" to their Web sites. That formula refers to six fundamental information elements of the news story that can be "managed" strategically. The Twitter promoter can use two or three of them in the message on the social network, leaving the rest to be exposed in formally structured news in the digital medium.

In short, social networks should be and actually are supplementary resources for journalism. That means they support media adapting themselves to journalism characteristics and not the reverse, as it is unfortunately happening.

Journalistic style and semantics 

Another of the serious problems that journalistic digital media are facing is the fast deterioration of language. The writing style in this field is characterized by linguistic accuracy, simplicity, clarity and briefness. The only one of all of these requirements that is met in social networks is the last one, basically by the maximum of 140 characters message imposed, for instance, by Twitter platform. However, the most affected feature is the "accuracy," mainly due to the misuse of language as a consequence of hiring very young and inexpert people that work producing messages without experienced editors guidance or supervising.

Journalism, regardless media used, has characteristics and specific purposes that are becoming rapidly degraded while it allows that communication "strategies" of social networks rules its own news and ethical criteria. Therefore, it is important that it recovers as soon as possible its communicational preponderance to avoid itself dangerously entangled in a web of incoherent swirl messages.