Summary

Next-Level Journalism

The foreword by Marcelo Rech, President of the World Editors Forum and Editorial Vice President, RBS Group, Brazil:

Independent journalism – based on analysis, opinion, the disclosure of facts gathered accurately and uncovering situations that insist on remaining hidden – has brought us here in a big way and has certainly changed the world for the better. Now, however, in order to keep fulfilling our mission, we need to use these solid foundations, carved out by generations of editors, to catapult journalism into a new cycle of public recognition of its relevance.

Much of this next-level journalism is scrutinized in this 2016 edition of Trends in Newsrooms. Although we, the professional editors, no longer have the hegemony in the production and distribution of content, the future is curiously backed by a concept that lies at the genesis of journalism and that is now more necessary than ever: the search for truth.

Let us look forward. Establishing and keeping relationships with the public will increasingly be the essence of media, but there will be stability in this unwritten agreement only if it is based on trust. This sentiment can be translated by the obsession to practice something as simple as exposing facts ascertained accurately and without bias. The task often involves facing threats to the freedom of the press, or confronting previous versions circulating on social networks, generally at the request of lobbies, PR agencies, political interests or activist groups.

Journalism transformed into “professional certification of content” takes advantage of technology to multiply itself indefinitely for all current and still-to-be-conceived platforms. But in order to expand our activity, we definitely need to break with outdated and inefficient newsroom formats, and to improve the production of content with the attractiveness and reliability provided by independent professional editors. This is the only way we can be contemporary enough and essential to future generations.

On an increasing scale, newsrooms are becoming agnostic regarding media platforms. We are using social media more and more to amplify our job and to identify issues that deserve a professional approach. As can be seen by the trends exposed in this issue, the path of our editorial efforts will include designing newsrooms to quickly absorb new forms of storytelling and present them fast and creatively, without ever losing sight of the human dimension of the first-hand account that thrills and positively transforms society.

While enhancing our role as intermediaries between the facts and the public, we should also seek to be relationship managers, employing our expertise, our diversity of views and experience and, above all else, our professional independence to mediate conversations and contribute to a fairer society based on reliable information. This is what this new world is all about, synthesized in the trends carefully compiled by the World Editors Forum. As you will see in the following pages, there are many exciting and historic challenges ahead of us.

From the table of contents:

Next-Level Journalism
Regaining Public Trust

Resources: Ethics
ONA Social Ethics Code

Next-Level Distribution:
Earthquake in Content Land

Next-Level Video:
What VR Can Do for Journalism

Next-Level Newsrooms:
Change is the Only Constant

Next-Level Platforms:
News Bots and Messaging Apps

Next-Level Engagement:
The Value of Community

Next-Level Safety:
The Advantage of Digital Tools

Next-Level Storytelling:
From Migration to Integration

Resources: Free Tools
For Multimedia and Interactives

Next-Level Models:
Constructive Journalism

Next-Level Ethics:
Native Advertising Standards