Today is the national journalist’s day, a date that not only commemorates the work of those who practice with passion, but also allows us to reflect on the development of the exercise and its main challenges.
DIARIO DEL HUILA, CLOSE UP
By: Johan Edward Rojas Lopez
This is why Heber Zabaleta Parra, Social Communicator and Journalist, with extensive experience in the field, pointed out that, despite the positive or negative changes that the profession has had, he remains optimistic given this moment of the century. XXI is the ideal one to do good journalism in coordination with the tools that appear as support.
“Today with the technologies, the citizen challenges, the social, economic, social, political and cultural dynamics that are experienced not only in Neiva and Huila, but throughout the world is the best time to do good journalism because without a doubt it also there is bad journalism and, therefore, it is a question of strengthening the guidelines that consolidate competent professionals for the exercise”, explained the also educator.
Hence the importance of emphasizing information, knowledge, context and the development of specific tasks that allow the unfolding of jobs far removed from institutional interests that restrict realities.
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According to the expert, his statement “today is the best time to be a journalist” is based on the fact that despite the fact that there is black propaganda, false news and multiplicity on virtual platforms; what has been fragmented can be reconstructed, since young people arrive loaded with innovation, creativity and desire, the essential elements to rethink the exercise from other perspectives.
The challenge is, then, to recover the leading role within society through journalism, after the social networks have somewhat replaced this profession by some influencers. This can only be achieved through investigations, chronicles, reports, interviews and news. These journalistic languages make a difference in professional dynamics.
The news by itself can stay in the moment, but “this in-depth work is done by us journalists with context, investigation, characters and looking restlessly on the street, that is, not staying only in a press release because for That’s what the institutional offices are. That is what good journalism is based on, and all with the purpose of exposing realities found on the street and among the people,” he insisted.
The idea, of course, is to look for something further that makes a difference compared to what everyone has already broadcast and that allows generating interest among citizens. That is why it is important to observe the same event from different angles; Only then will credibility and veracity be recovered.
‘Journalistic nose’
The skills to be considered should be the same ones that have been taught for years and are summarized in having a ‘journalistic nose’, which is acquired with experience, preparation, reading, active listening, research and concern. In other words, get out of the ‘copy and paste’ that has been adopted by some and start comparing sources.
He also added that, “one thing is the tools that are implemented in the use of languages, however, the ‘journalistic nose’ is to know how it will be addressed and under what journalistic genre.
“It is false that people regret having studied the degree, for this reason, we who graduated from the university have to make ourselves respected by showing that we can do a modern and different journalism, and the rest is defined by the audiences.”
In this sense, for Zabaleta Parra, the only barriers that can exist in journalism is the mentality of those who practice the career today, since many times they do not give themselves the importance they deserve and some even feel less than the sources themselves. Clearly, there are still several fights that must be fought.
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Crisis in the middle
Finally, Diego García Ramírez, director of the Journalism and Public Opinion Program at the Universidad del Rosario, carried out an analysis of the structural crisis of the media, the impact of social networks and the opportunities for journalism.
According to the expert, the media industry is going through a structural crisis caused by various factors, including the economic crisis that has hit the world in recent years; the loss of credibility of citizens in the media and journalists and advances in information technology, which has impacted the business model and sources of income of the traditional media.
According to Adriana Álzate, dean of the School of Human Sciences at the Universidad del Rosario, this is much more evident in highly polarized countries and societies, where some media and journalists have taken a position in favor of or against a party or political figure, favoring the production of ideologized information. Currently, media and journalists compete for constant visibility on social networks, a game that only benefits the platforms and affects the media, since in the race for visibility, banal and superficial content with easy and fast circulation ends up being favored.