More than two billion humans today are able to communicate news and ideas directly and immediately through the net, thanks to the formidable explosion of electronic and audiovisual media, which have usurped the lead on the monopoly of information that the traditional and written press had for centuries.
Now the news are disseminated firstly through the social media on the Internet, which has created a diversity of audiences that, according to the generation to which they belong, reveal their preferences and expose the realities that touch and affect their lifestyles.
Armed with this power of communication, these audiences have the ability to cast their complaints and aspirations, which can actually the carry the heavy weight on government decisions or in the priorities of a society, exercising, in fact, a type of civic journalism that’s popularized and strengthened every single day.
To the impulse of this tendency, the printed media also turn their focuses towards the core of that civil pulsation to stay connected with the audiences, amplifying their effects.
As the printed media involve themselves in the marrow of these realities, and know how to interpret the meaning of these claims, they’re also partaking in this kind of civic journalism, forcing governments to assume a schedule that leads to solutions or the prompt attention to the needs of the citizens.
The traditional press has a current of strengths, within this civic journalism movement, to preserve its level of influence, as long as they’re careful with reflecting the truth and the reasons for these legitimate aspirations of the citizens to exist, while also addressing them with depth, seriousness and objectivity.
That’s why the commitment of the media to exercise a journalism that leans towards the aspirations of this large conglomerate is now more visible, diitching the overwhelming dependence on official sources, the rampant declarations of those that only “say and do not do” or the unpleasant put-offs of politics.
The essential thing is to visit the problems of the citizens, discover more about them and influence on turning directions in a way that could contribute to solving the issues.
This is one of the biggest challenges of the printed journalism: to connect with and embrace the aspirations of the consumers of information, without losing sight of the quality and depth of the contents, whom undeniably support credibility, the sign of identity that has no rivals within the current ecosystem of social communications.
– Translated from spanish by Randy Rodriguez.
Director's Thoughts 