Credibility becomes the cornerstone for journalism

Journalism in Bolivia and the world has its greatest strength in credibility. It is not easy to sustain that quality. It is equivalent to a crystal glass that could crack or break at any time, says the journalist Lupe Cajías, National Journalism Award 2018, whose career was recently recognized by the Franz Tamayo University.

According to Cajias, credibility is the basis of good journalism, which is why You have to be careful how you reporthow the information is accessed, how it is produced and how I return it to the public.

It is to take care of the personal image of the journalist, from his behavior, as the saying goes “you have to lead by example”. “Imagine you, what credibility would a journalist have who has been seen drunk the night before or in deplorable conditions. We must be very careful in our life to be able to have that word that can build trust in the population. adds.

Meanwhile, Pedro Rivero Jordán, director of EL DEBER and current director of the Journalism program at Unifranz, maintains that credibility stands for independence of journalism, in these politically polarized times.

This pillar is put to the test daily in the newsrooms of the information media in order not to lose the perspective of impartiality in the appreciation of the events that take place and not deviate one iota from the search for truthas the main mission of an independent and credible media outlet.

“Once credibility is lost it is impossible to recover it”

Rivero Jordán highlights the work of EL DEBER as “zealous watchdogs of these pillars. We do not allow these fundamental pillars to crack (…). Rather, we consolidate them more and more to continue deserving the trust and credit of the people (…)” Rivera says.

‘Harassed’ journalism

Paradoxically, what it means to live in a democracy, where people enjoy all their constitutional rights such as freedom of association or expression, currently, journalism in several countries of the region is going through one of its worst crises and it is exercised in a ‘harassed’ manner.

Cajías considers that “at this moment, journalism is practiced in a harassed way because the state does not understand how important it is to have multiple voices.”

Although Lionel Barber (Financial Times) stresses that independence is the most precious value for a quality medium and that it is defended day by day before the political and economic powers and the owners, this quality is gradually being lost by various reasons.

For Cajías, the slogan of journalism or independent journalist could be relative because It is no longer known how independent the journalist can bebut what should not be given up is listening to multiple voices.

The journalist regrets that democracy, instead of strengthening journalism in terms of promoting values ​​such as independence or the incessant search for the truth, has given transition to “irresponsible” journalism, where many times the banal grabs the headlines and a large part of the informative spaces in formats such as television and radio.

Journalism must approach the truth

The Mexican journalist Juan Manuel Alegría, assured a few years ago that “the journalist seeks the truth. The work of journalism does not consist in overthrowing governments but in showing their excesses or their failures. It is a duty to support your research in reliable sources, testimonials, and verify these data; Those tests are your denunciation”.

Along the same lines, Cajías maintains that the journalist must always seek the truth and know that, the moment he chooses this noble profession, he has to renounce other freedoms and that, as in the investigation of any criminal act, journalism must seek the truth by listening to different witnessesanalyzing different moments or reviewing different memories.

“That is what enriches (…). A grid world is useless and I believe that, in these years, as I said when receiving the 2018 National Journalism Award, journalism develops under subtle pressure (…). We are, perhaps, in one of the most difficult moments (…)”, says the prominent opinion columnist.