As difficult or intricate this general phenomenon may seem, just like any catastrophe of mother nature, a war or a broad collapse of communications, journalism always finds its way to fulfill its sacred duty of reporting the truth of what’s happening.
As these disruptive phenomena of life unfold, personnel of the press appeal to the creativity of available channels to get to the periphery of society, all whilst facing risks and exposing their very lives through their usual news hunt journeys.
During World War I, the Listin Diario posted its news on a wall quite visible to passers-by. This information first came via telegram cables, a way of serving data if the printouts encountered difficulties going out.
Now that we’re under this novel coronavirus pandemic, restrictions on the mobility of citizens and severe measures of health-related self-protection are foisted, but even then our journalists have shown courage and sagacity to keep informing the country of what’s going on.
The most expeditious channels are digital platforms, from which it’s possible to broadcast the news both textually and audiovisually.
In the possible event of newspapers unable to circulate on the streets or delivered to homes because the staff must be quarantined, there’s always the option of publishing them online under a PDF format.
In this situation, the commitment isn’t only to inform and guide, but to be a retaining wall of fake or manipulated news, which have largely abounded in recent days, leading to lines of disinformation, which is no joking matter.
Throughout this week, the intensive use of digital news has given the Listin over a million daily visits to its website Listindiario.com, the only Internet portal in the Dominican Republic that achieves such a level of entries in a single day, confirming the large degree of scope and engagement of our content.
While the crisis lasts, our journal will continue to fulfill the responsibilities of a professional practice of journalism and adjust the tasks of the staff to the health conditions, fulfilling the prevention and protection protocols issued by the authorities.
We only ask our readers and users to stay home… and stay with us.
– Translated from Spanish by Randy Rodriguez.
Director's Thoughts 