Take a swipe at journalists & rejoice
The Swiss have rejected the package of pro-media measures. One accepts it, that is the beauty of democracy. Will we still fight? Certainly. Again, that’s the beauty of democracy. We’ ve talked about it and we’ll continue to do so, because the huge challenges newspapers are facing are very real. The issue is not just in Ticino or Switzerland: it’s global. We have all been struggling with the recession since the advent of the internet and few have really managed to make a dent. We can no longer turn a blind eye, waiting for the big foreign companies to devour all advertising and dominate information. On our part, we will be self-critical, because the vote on Sunday is clear, but we shall continue to fight, tooth and nail.
In spite of those who rejoice. It’ s true, that the journalist, possibly only after a politician, is the category most smeared in recent years. We are not wearing blinders. We shudder at the mere idea that some newspapers and magazines hire employees only to create «clickbait» postings on social networks. Just as we get a little nauseous when we see news sites that thrive on gossipy news with no substance whatsoever. One cannot be proud of the level of journalism attained by many newspapers in the age of the web. We cannot, and this is not up for discussion. But we will let you in on a little secret: if they publish repeatedly frivolous news, it is to gain more clicks.
Translated: it’ s the reader who wants this. And if many newspapers do not chase the public in this way, they can safely close down their shops. We live on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and so on, and the news that’ s all the rage is light (not to say ultralight). We are committed to providing as little as possible, and we’ll try to improve more and more, because, honestly, it’s not nice to think of a professional being forced to turn up his nose to bring home two clicks (pecunia non- olet, but there’s a limit to everything).
It is impossible to pretend that nothing has happened, for many websites it is almost compulsory to post very light information, because often it is the only way to push the reader to uncover the interview with the most talented colleague or that in-depth article on which he or she has been working on for days. The «bombshell» articles that a website puts in the lead section of its pages without even thinking about it, when published on social media, ends up overshadowed by a Leo Messi meme and a «Buongiornissimo kaffè», or even worse.
That’s right, the one piece that deserves to be read more than the others is doomed to get lost in the jumble of content generating an avalanche of interactions. The same that promptly appear on the bulletin boards of whoever is there lurking with sharp blades.
In other words, the user who seems to have the default comment «You’re worse than Novella 2000» on their keyboard, to be shot like a bullet whenever the actress on duty has broken up with her boyfriend. But it is curious to see how the same people who are insulting journalists for frivolous news, then mute themselves when they see more significant news on Facebook. It is one of the many social-media perversions due to the algorithms and, in this artificial intelligence scenario (not too intelligent, to tell the truth), news sites are losing more and more credibility: from journalist to newsreader is an instant. Needless to say, the pandemic has only made the situation worse, because «pennivendoli» believed in science. During these two years of pandemic, all kinds of experts, authorities, medical leaders and so on have been interviewed. Now there is those who ask for a mea culpa: we do it, no problem. It has been a very difficult period, and the same experts, including those to whom we have given voice, have more than once backtracked. One only has to think of the use of masks. The opposite of everything has been said. Frankly, our conscience is clear: we have questioned men and women of science, we have not invented anything. Conscience and science have never rhymed more closely than in this case. We have not said a single word out of context, from the high of non-existent diplomas in virology displayed on social networks. We apologize to readers if they were not taken into consideration the advice of who recommended papaya to treat Parkinson’s disease. We would like to add a couple of things to these readers: tirez sur le journaliste, fire the journalist and celebrate. We will be self-critical, but please remember that truth is not found on Facebook in a video spread by Grazia, Graziella or ... that other one.