Furtive Press as the Last Defense of News Freedom

Venezuelan case

Furtive Press as the Last Defense of News Freedom

Enrique Castejon-Lara

Abstract

The increasingly worldwide press restrictions by intolerant regimes —including those called “democratic”— are forcing journalist to use social media as new report trenches, but using prudently semantic writing strategies to evade political and illegal reprisals. That is the specific case of reporters in Venezuela.

When a government rules out constitution and laws, and does not respect citizen rights, journalistic mass media have the moral obligation of acting against it. That is the main principle stablished by Press Social Responsibility Theory (Siebert, Peterson, and Schramm, 1984). But, many times, as in the case of Venezuela, journalists do not have the possibility to accomplish efficiently that ethic command, because their lives are on risk and the media’s owners have been menaced by the regime. Usually, the unconstitutional governments, like that one in Venezuela, not only manipulate law and justice institutions, but also control printing paper, ink supplies, and broadcast frequencies. So, the “combat sceneries” for contemporary newsmen are really “asymmetric”, and deeply difficult.

That is the reason why Venezuelan reporters are increasingly using social media as alternative means for reporting true facts. At this moment, in that country, those online resources are their trenches against censorship and political reprisals. However, they even so are exposed to government officers’ aggression. In the last three years, many domestic journalists have been jailed without previous arrest warrant, and, in some occasions, their passports have been “confiscated” when traveling out the country. Similar things have been happened to some international reporters, especially those working for news agencies like Reuter, AFP, and EFE, and television networks like CNN and NTN24. Some of them have suffered Venezuelan government aggressions and censorship.

In that sense, social media are not effective enough for Venezuelan reporters, and, of course, for Venezuelan people. The arbitrary acts of the government are invaded those “freedom spaces” where citizens hope find the truth of what is really happening in their country. A regimen “mercenary army” of false users (bots) of Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other social media are virtually flooding them with fake news and psychological messages to undermine people hope to demoralize them. However, not all is good for the regime. Fortunately for freedom, opposition and so active people on line are helping journalists to spread the truth. In that case, the government strategies are not obtaining the results they want. Maybe, the Venezuelan regimen never expected a persistent and huge amount of spontaneous citizen reporters acting together to unveil their traps and propaganda.

That is today situation of press in Venezuela. Newsmen are trying to disclose true information from social media trenches, but using alternative writing methods including semantic strategies to evade regimen reprisals. They, now, are practicing a new way to report, a kind of “guerrilla” journalism that can be named “furtive press”.

Sources:

CASTEJON LARA, Enrique. Interpretative reporting. CreativeSpace (Amazon), 2015.

SIEBERT, Fred S.; PETERSON, Theodore, and SCHRAMM, Wilbur. Concepts of what the press should be and do. University of Illinois Press, 1984.

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.