From the Immediacy of the Cybermedia to the Need for Slow Journalism: Experiences from Ibero-America

Abstract

The pressure of immediacy, the dictatorship of the click, and the growing avalanche of fake news have impacted journalism. Citizens are particularly skeptical about the information they receive from the press, especially in the digital media. Journalism is faced with the need – or almost the urgency – to rethink, reinvent and redefine messages, routines, and processes. In this regard, various initiatives, especially in Ibero-America, have opted for slow journalism as a reaction and response to information devaluation. The commitment to journalism that appreciates context and cares for narrative has driven this "slow" news trend that believes in "author journalism" and stories' humanization. Through the methodology of the case study, of a qualitative and exploratory nature, 12 experiences of "slow journalism" media in Ibero-America are reviewed, with a particular interest in their themes, contents, aesthetics, and sources of financing. It is concluded that these media are one of the few that carry out investigative journalism, although to subsist, they depend to a great extent on international cooperation agencies since their contents and aesthetics are elitist in comparison with their conventional digital peers, which reduces their capacity of maintenance by subscriptions and advertising.