Marina Bocero Guerrero
The transition from traditional newspapers to digital media was a before and after in the world of journalism. The digitalization of the media makes that every day the veracity of the information and the credibility of the media is questioned more and more. Today, in Daily View, we talk to Oscar López Canencia, journalist with more than 20 years of experience and editor in RTVE web since 2008.
Question: Do you think there is much difference between writing for a newspaper that will be printed later and writing for an online media?
Answer: Well, less and less. When this started, online journalism was distinguished from print journalism by its immediacy. When you thought of a digital media, you thought of one that wanted to stand out from print journalism in immediacy, in urgency, in being there first. But now there are more and more opinion pages and digital media that have long, documented and analytical articles, also trying to carve out a niche in this type of journalism that until recently was a little bit the heritage of the print media. It was always said, at least a few years ago, when this started to have a boom "no, the web for the immediate and the newspaper for reflection and analysis". Now, there are more and more websites for reflection and analysis. Here the traditional newspapers have to get their act together a bit.
Q: How could traditional newspapers regain that distinction and importance?
A: The traditional newspaper has no choice but to either sell pots and pans as some do and make various promotions (laughs) or to focus on being superior in terms of quality. If more and more websites tend to offer this type of information and try to offer more analysis sacrificing more immediacy, then the printed newspaper has no choice but to try to gain in quality in this area, because for obvious reasons it will not be able to do so in terms of immediacy.
"Here the traditional media have to get their act together a bit"
Q: Despite these differences, which are becoming smaller and smaller, did you have a hard time adapting from a printed newspaper to an online one?
A: Not really, not in my particular case, because fortunately, in the RTVE website we had an adaptation period of three-four months in which we were not visible and everything was work in number zero. Until the first version of the web, accessible to all the public, was published, we had a long period of learning, it was not so difficult. During that period we published something, it remained in an internal circuit and then the bosses corrected you. But that first moment and those nerves of what you publish will be seen immediately, with the learning period, was somewhat less.
Q: In the media you write for, in that period of transition, what is it that you would highlight that helped it prosper and that made it different from other media?
A: Well, above all, the ability to contrast in record time. I return a little bit to introduce the d many times in other media, because they want to be the first, they make the mistake of not contrasting properly. We have a minimum of two-three sources. Normally they are the two main news agencies, when we use a lot of agencies, and if the chronicle is of an event or a match you are watching, then you are the source. But when the news comes from other sources, you need at least two more to contrast, to know that what you are publishing is true. And as I said, many media outlets jump into the pool because they want to be the first and not always being the first to publish something is synonymous with being the best. Sometimes it is preferable to sacrifice immediacy for more quality and veracity, more contrasted information and closer to reality.
Q: Partly due to the digitalization of the media and the desire to be first, disinformation and fake news have increased.
A: Of course, that is the big risk. Many times it is even the fault of the media itself. For example, now with the war of Ukraine and Russia, as soon as a flash arrives, the media immediately publish it on social networks, which is also a danger because we often confuse social networks with our media and it is nothing more than a showcase in which we should not stay or rely on it. With apologies, but we believe whatever it takes in order to be the first to give the news and not to contrast it properly.
"We often confuse social networks with our media and it is nothing more than showcase in wich we should not stay or rely on it"
Q: In relation to those social networks you mentioned, there are now a lot of new journalists but also many other people who are not and work as such. Do you think that this edia has made the world of journalism more accessible or that it is perhaps easier to become involved as a journalist without being one or without having the studies?
A: Of course, because there has been a proliferation of profiles of people who are not journalists or who are not even academically specialized in journalism, what they are specialized in is positioning. Now in journalism schools, whether they are universities or other types of professional training, there are specialization courses in networks, but many times network professionals do not come out of journalism schools and what they are specialized in is positioning something. Basically, they turn information into a product, whether it is true or not, and they specialize in positioning it in networks but also in search engines, such as SEO. This is a type of specialization that is not necessarily journalistic and many people with these profiles get jobs in the media, displacing the "traditional" journalist.
Q: A clear example is Juanma Castaño, who is a lawyer and not a journalist.
A: Lawyers working as journalists already existed, it is very typical (laughs). Many times, even before I was in college, people told me "no, study law, you will have time to be a journalist", so although it may seem new, it is not so new, at least in the case of lawyers. Others do, other profiles such as an influencer or any other who specializes in uploading content to social networks without being a journalist, suddenly become a journalist because of that, because they have some facilities to position the product that a journalist does not have.
Q: In relation to the situation in which influencers, because they have a larger audience than a trained person, have a greater facility, do you think it detracts from the value of the profession itself?
A: Not to the profession as such. At the end, well, the profession can be reevaluated if everyone, starting with the media outlets itself and the consumer, begins to value contrasted information before immediate information, that is the problem. We are getting used to wanting everything now, immediately, and in something as sensitive as information, what is important is the truth. I am not talking about being lied to, but I am talking about being well told. Just because Juanma Castaño is the first to tell something, it does not necessarily have to be true. We would all have to sacrifice a little, but not only the media outlets but also the consumers, that immediacy to have a little more journalistic rigor.
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