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The 2018 elections provided a preview of the scenario that journalism is expected to face in 2019. Electoral campaigns, especially that of the president-elected Jair Bolsonaro, accelerated a disintermediation process characteristic of the social internet. The maxim that the information needs less and less of traditional mediators to circulate was decisively evident, shaking the already weakened journalism credibility.
Benefited by a scenario of polarization, intolerance, and aggressiveness, the end-to-end connection principle established a reality that was often oblivious to the facts. In this new ecosystem, political actors, on the one hand, present scenarios that interest them most. On the other, the audience receives a narrative that best represents their way of thinking. All this bypassing journalism and its mediating role.
The communication strategies of the transitional government and their attitude towards the press demonstrate not only the aggravation of this reality that has emerged over 2018 but also indicate a trend that transcends political journalism.
In 2019, it will be the role of journalism to be attentive to this modus operandi. Exposing the entrails of social platforms will be crucial. However, it will not be enough to once again convince society of the importance of our work. To respond to disintermediation, journalism will need to deepen its relationship with the audiences. This will mean not only to understand them better. It will be critical to understanding that people are increasingly aware of the contradictions of our practices. The answer to this mistrust will be to increase transparency and invest more in diversity and collaboration.
For the third time, Farol Jornalismo and the Associação Brasileira de Jornalismo Investigativo (Abraji - Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism) invite journalists and researchers to forecast journalism in the upcoming year. Challenged to think about 2019 at a time when the dust of the election campaign was far from settling, the authors of this special issue of O jornalismo no Brasil outlined a framework that contemplates part of the complex scenario that 2018 leaves us. The horizon is one of great challenges, but also of great opportunities. To take advantage of them, however, waking up is key.
Perhaps the greatest example of the dichotomy between challenges and opportunities lies in what we understand as credibility. The journalist and researcher Sílvia Lisboa sought in philosophy subsidies to tell us: it is not enough for a journalistic vehicle to claim to be credible - credibility built in one way only is nothing but a marketing strategy; it needs to be demonstrated in such a way as to be perceived by the audience.
One possibility to ensure this perception, according to Lisboa, is for the vehicle to be more transparent about their funding and their attitude towards the facts. Another one is for journalism to "get out of the trap of being a mere reflection of the cultural wars that spring up in the underground of the internet and seek to set an agenda that reconciles with the pillars of modern ideals," according to the journalist and Ph.D. in Communication Rosane Borges.
Transparency also permeates the reflection of the journalist and editor of Projeto Comprova, Sérgio Lüdtke, on misinformation. Facing an ecosystem marked by bubbles that get thicker and thicker, in order to contain misinformation, it is imperative that current fact-checking efforts are maintained. Though, it will not be enough for journalists to keep exposing the problem. It will be necessary to convince people that the journalistic narrative seeks the common good. For this, journalism needs a "new contract of trust with society".
This new contract involves a greater effort to get to know the public. In the case of fact-checking, the Filtro Fact-Checking journalist and researcher Taís Seibt suggests the adoption of formats that better converse with the environments from where Brazilians usually get information. She believes that video or audio checks may be more likely to run on WhatsApp, for example.
In relation to the journalism performed in the outskirts, the researcher Claudia Nonato pointed out the challenge of understanding the concerns of the part of the population that voted for Jair Bolsonaro. Being almost always of a progressive bias, journalistic initiatives that seek to give visibility to lower classes will need to adapt their strategies to approach and support these people, although without leaving the ethical standards that regulate the profession aside.
Diversity strategies will also be important for journalism in 2019. Researcher Gean Gonçalves indicates the possibility of Brazilian newsrooms adopting gender editors, as did El País and NYT this year. It is also up to journalism, as Gonçalves points out, to be aware of the pressure that groups of women and LGBT people may apply when facing the policies of the new government, as well as "monitor and report on violations that may get worse and affect those communities more harmfully".
Surveilling Bolsonaro’s steps will also guide the efforts of journalism in the Amazon forest. Journalist Elaíze Farias draws attention to the difficulties of acting independently in a strategic region, but far from the economic and political center of the country. To fight the subservience that rules devastation, coverage will need to embrace the Amazonian complexity, leaving aside stereotypes and buzzwords.
The challenge to be faced by journalism in the Amazon is not only narrative but also economical. The lack of resources does not strangle journalism only in the northern region. Across the whole country, local journalism suffers from broken business models that render innovation impossible, according to Sérgio Spagnuolo, editor of the Volt Data Lab and coordinator of the Atlas da Notícia project. The distance from journalism in large centers increases. With it, disintermediation. Without vehicles capable of covering small and medium-sized cities, the population is left at the mercy of misinformation.
One of the solutions, in terms of business, may be what Patrícia Gomes, product director at JOTA outlet, called "journalytics". Looking closely at the data generated by the users may be a way of getting to know them better. Adapting journalistic products to the behavior of those who consume them will help reestablish a relationship of trust between journalism and its public.
In 2019, Brazilian journalism will need to rediscover its public. And at finding them again, it will need to disarm itself. "The credibility crisis that the press lives today must more and more contribute to journalists getting out of their fort and asking their readers what it is that makes them not trust what they read in the professional press", wrote Guilherme Amado, reporter of Globo and Época.
The assurance of journalism as a relevant social mediator depends on this reunion. Not only in the year ahead but also in the others to come. Because in order to win the War on Truth, The Guardians - Time Magazine's 2018 Person of the Year - will need the public by their side.
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