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.

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[1] February 1, 2018.

Supervivencia del periodismo

La gente sigue necesitando su ayuda

Los Medios Impresos Desaparecen, el Periodismo sobrevive

Enrique Castejón Lara

Abstract

Este artículo complementa las ideas expresadas por el autor en el anterior, titulado: “El periodismo ingresa en la era de la re-información”. Este nuevo trabajo se refiere al creciente cierre de medios impresos que ha hecho que algunos expertos en comunicación expresen sus preocupaciones en relación al futuro del periodismo. Éste, sin duda, está confrontando serias dificultades para sobrevivir en la era de la información sin papel. Sin embargo, él tiene el conocimiento y las destrezas que representan la clave para entender los rápidos y complejos cambios en el mundo contemporáneo.

La revolución digital ha sido despiadada con los medios impresos. Uno detrás de otro ha ido saliendo de las versiones impresas por la carencia cada vez más notoria de audiencias. El mes pasado, en diciembre —una tradicional época de celebración—, uno de los más importantes diarios españoles, El País, dio el primer paso para dejar de publicar en papel. En la última edición producida en sus propios talleres, anunció que, a partir de ese momento, imprimiría las siguientes ediciones, con menor tiraje, en una imprenta distinta compartida por varios periódicos.

Sin duda alguna, los medios digitales y sociales poseen una creciente influencia en las audiencias actuales. La gente, de acuerdo a la reciente experiencia mediática, prefiere la emisión más dinámica y rápida de mensajes en línea que la difusión de noticias a través de diarios y otros medios impresos que resultan “lentos” y estáticos. Sin embargo, el periodismo dispone del conocimiento y la experiencia necesarios en la selección e interpretación de las noticias que el público en general no posee y que, por esa razón, no pueden ser desestimados.

El entorno noticioso, en cualquier parte del mundo, se está convirtiendo rápidamente en algo cada vez más complejo y difícil de entender, debido al intenso flujo de mensajes dispares. El periodismo dispone de métodos (Meyer, 2002; Castejón, 2015;) que permiten seleccionar y evaluar los aspectos más relevantes de todas las fuentes de noticias. Es decir, él utiliza las técnicas adecuadas para verificar hechos y contextos para poder elaborar y ofrecer relatos noticiosos sólidos y confiables.

En una sociedad que, con el paso del tiempo, se ve más inmersa en una casi incomprensible tormenta de mensajes, la gente necesita las habilidades clarificadoras del periodismo. De manera que las nuevas circunstancias generadas por la revolución digital nos hacen pensar que, ciertamente, los medios impresos en papel pueden desaparecer de manera definitiva. No obstante, el periodismo, una vez más en su historia, demostrará que tiene los recursos para sobrevivir en una nueva era de difusión de noticias sin papel.

References

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

Meyer, Philip. Precision Journalism. Rowan & Littlefield publishers, 2002.

Journalism surviving

People Keep Needing Its Help

Printed Media Vanish, Journalism Survives

Enrique Castejón-Lara

Abstract

This article complements the ideas expressed by the author on his prior one, entitle “Journalism is going into the re-information age.”  This paper refers to the increasing closing of printed media that has make some communication experts expose their concerns about journalism’s future. It, indeed, is confronting serious difficulties to survive in the information paperless age. However, it has a very extend know-how that offers the key to understand the fast and complex changes of the contemporary world.

Digital revolution has been ruthless with printed media. One behind other is going out of printing shop because of increasing lack of audiences. Last month, on December —a traditional happy holyday season—, one of the most important Spanish daily, El Pais, gave the first step to go out of printed version. It announced that stopped down its own printing shop to print its paper edition, with a very lower circulation, in a different press rotary shared by several printed media.

No doubt, digital and social media have an increasing influence in nowadays audiences. People, according to recent years’ experience, prefer the fastest and dynamic emission of messages on line than the 24-hour and other static printed news issues. However, journalism has a historic know-how to interpret news meaning that they cannot throw away.

The news environment, anywhere in the world, is rapidly becoming more and more complex, and very hard to understand because of the intense flow of odd messages. Journalism has methods (Meyer, 2002; Castejon, 2015) that permit chose and evaluate the most relevant issues from all news sources. So that, it has the right techniques to verify them before writing solid-reliable news stories.

In a society that, with the pass of time, is more and more immersed in an almost incomprehensible storm of messages, people will need those clarifying abilities of journalism. So, the new circumstances generated by the digital revolution make us think that, indeed, media printed on paper could be definitely vanishing. Nevertheless, journalism, once again in history, will demonstrate that it has the resources to survive in that paperless news diffusion age.

References

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

Meyer, Philip. Precision Journalism. Rowan & Littlefield publishers, 2002.