Quality journalism is in good health
KRAKOW, Poland – Sixteen women, some of them very young, take to the stage in an auditorium and more than 900 editors gathered here at the World Media Congress (WAN) stand and give them a standing ovation.
They look serious and contrite , and some hold their right arms to their chests, resting them on their hearts.
The image is one of bleak orphanhood . There are no men among them, just the host. They are Ukrainian. Their colleagues and husbands of three years have been enlisted with weapons on the front lines, as is the case with all adult males in that country.
They do their job without boasting or false pride, without shedding a tear. They are journalists .
Since Russia savagely invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, 332 media outlets have closed in the attacked country, and 97 journalists have lost their lives simply for covering the atrocities that continue to this day beyond the border, located just over two hours' drive from this city.
The image may seem exaggerated, but it is a perfect synthesis , describing with shocking drama the role that journalism plays in so many corners of the planet. Narrative of the facts, reporting reality. But, paradoxically, this image also reveals the flip side of the current moment: the deliberate global attempt to discredit the role of press professionals through a wave of aggressive rhetoric emanating from the political establishment.
We are facing a change of era . It was stated here at the World Media Congress that three-quarters of the planet's population is living under autocratic regimes, which in many cases come to power through fair elections and then undermine institutions and seek to silence dissenting voices. This is the classic recourse of populisms, whether left-wing or right-wing.
Never before have the world's most important leaders attacked the free press to satisfy their whims and impose their authoritarian impulses. We've grown accustomed to hearing daily atrocities like "Ukrainians are Nazis," " Zelensky is playing for a third world war," or "Canada will be the 51st state of the United States."
Even in our country, some seem to have lost their memory of what they experienced just five minutes ago, as measured by historical time. During the Kirchner years, when the provocateur Juan Grabois violently occupied a field owned by a well-known Entre Ríos family, who else but the press was there to give him visibility day and night?
How do we learn about the takeovers and burning of private establishments in Patagonia , fueled by the inaction of the outgoing government, by criminals calling themselves Mapuche, if not through television channels and representatives from independent media?
How did we find out about former first lady Fabiola Yañez 's private birthday party at the Olivos residence during the most restrictive period of the quarantine imposed by former President Alberto Fernández in the midst of the pandemic?
How did the largest public-private corruption operation during the Kirchner era, known as the "Bribery Notebooks ," come to light? The case is set to go to trial this year.
Was it politics, perhaps, that brought to light the scandal involving former President Fernández's multimillion-dollar insurance policy with the husband of his private secretary?
In Argentina, have we learned nothing from the more than twenty years of lies, confrontation, and plundering of the Kirchnerist governments? With the economic, foreign policy, and curbing of street protests achievements, to name just a few, recognized today by everyone except Kirchnerism and the left, are we heading back down the path of intolerance and discursive violence?
The silence with which a certain segment of the political and business establishment tolerates the current vituperation of the liberal press, the same press that was scandalized when the aggression came from the previous political cycle, cannot but be perplexing . Many have lost their memory, whether through sympathizing with official policies, out of convenience, or a thirst for power. The role of quality journalism in exposing corruption, defending republican institutions, and denouncing the abuses against citizens and businesses during the Kirchner administration is now up against a wall of indifference that reeks of fear or opportunism. No one wants to be the next target of insults and discredit.
The press is certainly not free from excesses or sins . We hear here that reproach us for the effect of the excessive load of negative news content, which saturates to the point of generating so-called "news avoidance ." We are called upon to be more positive, to offer solutions, and to better explain what we report on. There are plenty of reasons to heed this demand.
At the same time, the vertigo of digital times fosters a frenzy in which more errors slip through than required by standards of rigor , a weakness that rightly irritates readers and subscribers. Much remains to be done in this regard.
The militant journalism that emerged under Kirchnerism is no longer a phenomenon that belongs exclusively to that space, and it distorts our work, alienating audiences out of fatigue . The vast majority of them flee in fear of the shouting and confirmation bias.
We journalists have sinned by overprominence , pontificating too often, feeling like authoritative voices on this or that, often without properly admitting our mistakes. We are mere messengers with the simple mission of asking questions—and, above all, asking questions again—reporting and interpreting the facts. Social media makes an invaluable contribution to the media by correcting and criticizing us in real time , but it also generates noise and confusion. They have nothing to do with journalism, because what differentiates us from them is professionalism, that is, rigorous fact-checking, argumentation over emotion, and accrediting responsible editors who take responsibility for every word published, rather than cowards who hide behind anonymity. Everything must be said.
The good news is that, despite the revolutionary change brought about by the digital age, which disrupted centuries-old reading habits and ended a business model that had endured for decades, quality journalism is alive and well . This has been demonstrated here by representatives of media outlets from countries as diverse as France , England , India , Lebanon , Poland , Switzerland , Germany and the Netherlands , to name just a few examples. We have all been forced to reinvent ourselves and diversify our activities, but without giving up on the same direction that has guided us this far: investing in credible, fact-based journalism, with investigative, analytical and opinion-based approaches under the brand-new and innovative digital narratives.
Despite those who predict the death of journalism, some of them even yesterday my colleagues, the so-called " legacy media " (traditional press) never had the audience levels it has today . Every day in Argentina, more than ten million users get their news through the main news sites, a figure that increases even more if we include those who access it through social networks, podcasts, newsletters, and YouTube. In fact, our country has one of the highest news reader penetration rates in Latin America.
The battle is far from won ; new competitors are appearing every minute, and audiovisual platforms are emerging that are more prone to noise and entertainment than to the search for valuable information.
The mission will remain the same, with new tools, including artificial intelligence, for which the nation earned the highest award here for its application to journalism. We must return to the facts, narrate a country, challenge power. In the words of the legendary former editor of The Washington Post Martin Baron , here present: “Making institutions accountable to citizens.”
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