The reconfiguration of relationships with the audience

The informational deficit, the opportunities of the new media, and innovation  were the subjects analyzed during the sessions carried out in Panama at the XIX Foro Eurolatinoamericano de Comunicación (XIX Euro-Latin-American Communications Forum), between October 14^th and 16^th.  

The reconfiguration of relationships with the audience in the presence of the crisis of the traditional media and the new media landscape, is considered as a possibility for improvement for journalists.   

Eduardo Quiroz, President of the Panamanian editorial group El Siglo-La Estrella, stated that "We are in a crisis in the midst of the whirlwind, and we must be aware of this. On occasion, we get more information than we are able to process and transmit, and there is the challenge: to reflect with the audience, because nobody has time to reflect". 

Daniel Moreno, Director of the Animal Político de México (Political Animal of Mexico), described the situation like this: "Currently, newspapers who boast about large editions do not exceed 5,000 copies daily. Why? Due to the dangerous closeness of the traditional media with power. It is a journalism that assumes power as its main concern ". 

During his intervention, Moreno commented that the focus, in the case of Political Animal, is on the subject, not on power. "We have understood that the informative agenda has to accompany citizens in their own quest for power. The media has assumed that we can and must be active in causes connected with rights and that this has to be part of our daily work". 

Ignacio Escolar, Director of Eldiario.es from Spain, talked about the internet as a business model. "Yes, it is profitable. Technology makes it so that talent is what is relevant, and this is why it is important to have good and well paid journalists". He highlighted the importance of securing the relationship of trust with the readers with time, work, and transparency.  

"Check, investigate, professionalize, and tell the story right, goes the opposite way of gratuity in the internet. This has a value, not only democratic. Information has a value", said Jesús Maraña, Drector of InfoLibre, when stating that it is necessary to educate the audiences so they understand that the information deserves to be paid. 

The event was organized by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, the Association of European Journalists and the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (Fnpi) (New Ibero-American Journalism Foundation), in the framework of the Ibero-American Summit of Chiefs of State and of Government, and was supported by the Secretaría General Iberoamericana (General Ibero-American Secretariat).