It may sound harsh or pessimistic, but after these violent setbacks due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, it’s foreseeable that the traditional press will never be what it once was, again.
Right now, with a sight of severe cutbacks in advertising, the most robust newspapers out there are publishing editions with no more than 24 pages and a minimum of 16, not to difuse the same news that are broadcasted through digital media, but content that goes in-depth explaining the why of such episodes, instead.
In various panels organized by the IAPA, at its recent virtual technology conference, directors and other specialists examined the current reality of this journalistic model and projected an era of transformations in which the digital will be the platform par excellence for developing all journalism in the future.
IAPA’s President and Christopher Barnes, who is the CEO of The Gleaner of Kingston, a 190-year-old newspaper from Jamaica, admitted that: “Newspapers will not return to their pre-Covid-19 state. Therefore, we have the mandating opportunity of fixing our market structure. The printed product won’t die; credible content won’t die. It’s just that people and companies will have an enhanced digital-friendly behavior in front of media consumption.”
The alternative, as we’ve already proposed, is to assume the newer technologies that facilitate the development of digital journalism and make greater use of data analysis, solutions approaches, chronicles, reports and the collaborations of experts on different subjects.
The very likely income that could help subsidize the newspapers combined with other printed modalities, such as advertisings, events and commercial bulletins, magazines and other products, will come digitally, since most human activities will all come down to the new culture of virtuality, where technology is who reigns.
– Translated from Spanish by Randy Rodriguez.
Director's Thoughts 