Cinnamon PR, an independent communication agency, presented yesterday in Barcelona the Report on the confluences in the current communication. Among the conclusions of this report, an important fact stands out: 82% of journalists believe that the media have lost credibility in the digital age.
The report also addresses issue such as agency / journalist relationship or if the Spanish are willing to pay for content. Another of the data that the report highlights is that journalists continue to rely on PR agencies to filter the growing volume of information.
The credibility of the media falls to minimum levels
According to the results of the study, 82% of Spanish journalists believe that the credibility of the media has decreased in the last five years.
This phenomenon has several causes. Participants indicate the following reasons. According to 83%, it is the pressure of time, which leaves less time to investigate; For 79%, the reason is the blurring of the border between editorial content and paid content; for 58% it is the dependence on prefabricated materials; and for 66% the reason lies in the greater influence of PR professionals.
In this sense, 53% of the participants consider that the work of the agencies has gained importance in recent years for the media, compared to 47% who believe that it has not. In a context of more sources of information, and less time and resources to process them, the media increasingly rely on agencies to obtain the content they need.
In this new stage of the relationship between journalists and agencies, there is no time for traditional press conferences (68% believe that they have lost importance), press releases maintain their role (only 53% believe that they have less weight) and more relevance is given to personal contacts (for 80% they are more important) and interviews (for 75%).
The digital press prevails over the paper press
Professionals who are still in business are witnessing the rapid transformation of news companies. 74%) of journalists work for an online medium and less and less do so only in written media (12%). Study participants believe this trend will continue.
The media that will grow the most are television and Internet radios (70% and 50% respectively), social networks (64%) and news portals (38%). On the other hand, the media that will continue to fall are newspapers (51%) and weeklies (43%), general magazines (39%) and specialized magazines (19%).
As one of the respondents reflects: “The paper should be left for the publications that are worth saving. But for a newspaper or magazine that is read and thrown away, it is really a shame and a huge waste of money, when people prefer the tablet to read. Let's adapt to the new technological revolution or die trying ”.
To this is added that the crisis has worsened the working conditions of journalists. 84% of those surveyed have suffered budget cuts; 83% have more workload; 79% have less time to investigate; 77% suffer from job insecurity; and 70% have seen the quality of their work diminish. It should not be forgotten that 11.145 journalists have been fired since 2008 according to the Federation of Journalists' Associations (FAPE).
Doubts about the quality and viability of digital media
Faced with the digital boom, 76,9% of Spanish journalists think that publishing their own blog is a job opportunity, something in line with the evolution of the sector in recent years. Since 2008, 284 media outlets (especially magazines, newspapers and televisions) have closed in Spain according to the Madrid Press Association, while more than 300 online publications have been created. However, there are discrepancies about the quality and viability of the new journalism.
While one of the respondents remembers that “Blog is not synonymous with free or lack of quality. It is another tool available to anyone who wants to use it, journalists or not. And its productivity and economic benefit will depend on the quality of the content ", another regrets that the blogs "They are not to be trusted, anyone can write and publish untrue and poorly documented content." A third respondent defines Internet content as follows: “The headlines of 'recipes' (how to do this or that, the best ten, etc.) and the empty news (a Chinese pig has given birth to a pink baby) triumph. I often wonder if I should stay in the anecdote. "
Spanish users don't want to pay for news
When asked about emerging potential sources of media revenue, 75% of respondents consider online advertising to be the best way to finance new media. This formula is imposed on other alternatives such as online subscriptions (66%), payment per article (61%) or crowdfunding (60%).
Although payment per article is the formula that surely best guarantees the independence of journalists, the reality is that currently only 11% of Spaniards pay to access news on the Internet, according to the report Digital NewsReport 2015 from Reuters Institute.
Deborah Gray, Director and Founder of Canela PR, comments on the results of the study: “The relationship between journalists and agencies is still more necessary than ever in the new digital age, because there is less time and resources to filter information. This urgency, together with the rise of digital media to the detriment of print media, is affecting the credibility of the Spanish media. To this we must add that very few Spanish users are willing to pay for content. So the media have to continue looking for efficient ways to generate quality content, a task in which the public relations agencies wish to continue supporting them ”.
You can check the results of the Report on the confluences in the current communication here.