Lifelong journalism remains fundamental: getting a story out, telling it well and giving it context; now we also have many more ways to distribute it”, assured yesterday the director of La Vanguardia, Jordi Juan, at the round table “Journalists in redefinition from the professional reality”, held at the Faculty of Communication and Relations Internacionals Blanquerna-URL and in which the director of Ara, Esther Vera, also participated; the director of El Periódico, Albert Sáez, and the dean of the College of Journalists of Catalonia, Joan Maria Morros.
Regarding the redefinition of the profession, Jordi Juan stated that journalism has gone through continuous changes and has always adapted. “Traditional journalism was limited to making a story to publish in the newspaper and now it’s multimedia, you have to be on social networks, make videos, podcasts and if there’s TikTok, you have to be on TikTok”, continued the director of La Vanguardia. “The appearance of the smartphone has changed the way of working and the internal organization: each piece of news must be seen whether it is first published on the web or in paper, who writes it, how it is written… The objective is that readers get the news as quickly as possible while always preserving the highest quality”.
Regarding artificial intelligence, he said that a robot will never replace the “human journalist”, but that it is positive to “use this technology” to free oneself from the most heavy and mechanical tasks. With regard to AI, Morros considered that it is necessary to achieve that with this technology what has happened with the previous ones is repeated: “Take advantage of the positive aspects and minimize the negative ones”.
Continuing with the redefinition, Vera recalled that the raw material of journalism remains information and that “we have the obligation to do classic journalism with new instruments, as we first did with social networks and now with AI, that allow us improve our analysis capacity”. For his part, Sáez said that it has not changed how to do journalism, but how to relate to readers. “20 years ago we decided which news we published and which we didn’t. We have now lost that control. Readers look for information without expecting us to give it to them.”
The battle against disinformation was another star issue. There has always been fake news, Jordi Juan indicated, “but now there are many more and some media outlets carry this kind of news because they are in tune with their audience”. Regarding the future of the business, he highlighted the opportunity that opens up with digital subscription and was satisfied with the evolution of the market. “It is necessary to send the message that the media and prestigious journalists are the best way to fight against fake news”, he concluded.
