Miguel Franjul
Practicing journalism in a country under a dictatorship is almost a suicide mission. If it's a foreign correspondent, he's up against the scorn of government censors and the unblinking surveillance of security agents. It's like swimming in a sea infested with hungry sharks, where a reckless move by the reporter could result in the fatal … Continue reading The “Double Spy” and Me
There were only a few hours left to leave behind that scene of ruins that turned Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, into the largest tomb in history on the fateful Christmas Eve of 1972. A week after the violent earthquake that destroyed houses and buildings and cracked streets and avenues, the fetid odor caused by … Continue reading The plane that never arrived
In these times when news, pure and simple, is not the basic input of newspapers, useful content is their survival weapon. The realm of current news, with its timely updates, belongs to digital media. Prints are favored by betting on a slow journalism that facilitates the exploration and deepening of the issues that most interest … Continue reading Towards a useful journalism
Practicing journalism today is more challenging and fascinating than before. Now the information that comes from all sides is more nourished, as well as the mass of false, adulterated or manipulated content. And this incessant barrage puts at stake the journalist's ability and skill to separate the chaff from the wheat. And to find not … Continue reading Journalism at its best “momentum”
The media are not just for reporting. Apart from interacting with their readers or users, which has been a new phenomenon in communication, they have to "talk" with them. From simple news broadcasters, the media were getting closer to their audiences, directly or indirectly. In some cases, monitoring their tastes and perceptions; in others, opening … Continue reading Now we have to “talk” to the audiences
Wherever we look at the world, what is perceived is a dynamic process of deconstruction of what were its main paradigms for many decades, including the press and journalism. Beginning with the fine arts, none of its most emblematic expressions has remained unscathed by the wave of transformations that, at the same time, have impacted … Continue reading The dismantling of paradigms
A good staff of analysts, simpler and more understandable narratives, and a careful selection of reader "targets" are today the basis of the recovery process of the world's large print headlines. As a result of this injection of quality and depth into their content, the main print newspapers are recovering ground lost during the pandemic. … Continue reading The newspapers take flight
After serving as the cornerstone of journalistic writing, the so-called "inverted pyramid", which has been the writing pattern of newspapers, is in the doldrums. Until recently, it prevailed as the predominant structure in newspaper news, just as it had been for dozens of years, its parameter par excellence. Its principle is simple: the information is … Continue reading The pyramid is falling!
The greatest loss that a democracy could suffer is that which derives from the loss of freedom of expression. Democracy and freedom are consubstantial values. Neither can exist authentically if the other is missing. Democracy is lost when dictatorship replaces it. And the second, freedom of expression, when it is suffocated by the silence of … Continue reading “Freedom is the mother of our democracy”
Today's is called the “Hearing Age” because most of those who seek information and stories of interest prefer to listen to them, rather than read them. That explains the surprising boom in news and other vocalized content, as well as audiobooks. And, likewise, the "podcast" or audio formats that synthesize news stories set with effects … Continue reading The “Hearing Age”
Director's Thoughts 