sábado, 10 de marzo de 2018

FACEBOOK PUSHES JOURNALISM BACK… AND FORWARD!


Enrique Castejón-Lara


Abstract:

Journalists have begun to realize that they not need longer use the deceptive "communicational" strategies of social media, based in “linking traps”. Facebook’s recent decision to push back the traditional journalistic media in its time line, has provoked a very important change in journalism behavior. Many news organizations are calling their reporters to resume their own traditional information techniques to avoid readers frustrations.


Facebook has compromised its own information channel value. When it set the news from traditional media —with no chronological alternation chances— behind users’ personal messages in their time line, maybe thought that such decision will be “popular” enough and will make people happier. However, that drastic change will limit audiences’ possibilities of obtaining a trusty and opportune news source when immersed in the habitual torrent of confusing information, rumors and fake facts.

In that sense, although Facebook has pushed journalism to the end of its “messages stream,” traditional news reporting is progressively capturing back a bigger interest of people for “professional information”.

So that, in this case Facebook’s decision is acting as a news catalyzer. People, confused by the awkward social media’s information flow, look traditional journalistic sites for clarifying stories.

On the other hand, Facebook also has helped journalism to realize that it really does not need the “social media’s tricks” to gain audiences. It only requires his traditional and trusty news diffusion tools.

Recently, the Inter American Press Association promoted a webinar named “Journalism beyond Facebook,” that was lectured[1] by Edgar Fonseca-Monge. Basically, Mr. Fonseca talked about the new limitations impose by that social medium against traditional journalistic sites, and how that “adverse situation” could represent for journalism a new opportunity to increase audience loyalty.

IAPA webinar established that, before Facebook’s decision, journalists only have to reinforce their traditional mechanisms and techniques to capture, with true stories, the interest of people.

In short, Facebook maybe has helped decisively journalism to go back to its original purpose, when it pushed news back in its message time line. Why? Now journalism is, again, forward!


References

Castejon-Lara, Enrique. Interpretative reporting. CreateSpace Independent Publishing (Amazon), 2015.

Fonseca, Edgar-Monge. Journalism beyond Facebook. Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), webinar February 2018.



[1] February 1, 2018.

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