The podcast market is booming in Latin America, with annual growth expected to reach almost 30% by 2032. Many narrative journalism podcasts are riding the wave. The author of a pioneering study on the subject in Brazil shares techniques to capture listeners' attention, from theater to sources.
Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro's attacks on journalists didn't deter media coverage during his term. Instead, journalists used the criticism as motivation, as shown by a study conducted by researchers from the University of Texas and published in The International Journal of Press/Politics. Interviews with 18 targeted journalists revealed their increased determination, underscoring the resilience of Brazilian journalism in the face of adversity.
The Digital News Report 2023 reveals a declining interest in news in Latin America and the world, as well as a growth in the use of platforms such as TikTok to get information. LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) summarizes findings on news consumption in Argentina, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil.
Brazilian researchers analyzed news headlines about false statements by Jair Bolsonaro on COVID-19 in 2020, and in 60% of the cases the then-president's lines were just reproduced, without contextualization or correction. Researcher Marilia Gehrke spoke to LatAm Journalism Review (LJR) about how this practice contributes to misinformation and undermines journalism’s credibility.
The research article “Spatial dimensions within hierarchy of influences: How re-conceived notions of space in networked societies impact Latin American journalists” shows that the geographic location of the newsroom influences the perception of the journalistic function.
Over-information, weariness and the need to disconnect. The trend was underway at a global level. It had a pause during the pandemic, when news consumption was essential. Afterwards, global audiences, saturated, seemed to have become overloaded with so much information. Why did many prefer to zap, unplug from the news and take refuge by watching series or opening a book?
The latest report "Journalism, Media and Technology: Trends and Predictions for 2023," published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, sheds light on what the news industry can expect in 2023. Concerns about the sustainability of some news outlets are on the rise, as are the challenges to innovate.
Brazilian researcher Denise Becker, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, defends transparency as a key value for journalists and news organizations to face the wave of loss of trust that affects the press. Winner of the 2022 best dissertation award from the Brazilian Association of Journalism Researchers, Becker argues that transparency contributes to rebuilding public trust in journalism.
Researchers Summer Harlow, Ryan Wallace and Lourdes Cueva Chacón published on Oct. 7 the research entitled “Digital (In)Security in Latin America: The Dimensions of Social Media Violence against the Press and Journalists’ Coping Strategies.” The study reveals that social media violence needs to be taken as seriously as offline/physical violence.
The survey "Perfil do Jornalista Brasileiro 2021" heard from 7,000 journalists between August and October of last year to draw a current portrait of the journalism profession in Brazil. The final report shows transformations as well as continuities in the journalism scene since the first survey in 2012. Among them is the deepening precariousness of the profession during the last ten years, as shown by low wages, long working hours, and an increase in precarious forms of employment.
Brazil is where a growing aversion to the news is worst, as 54% of Brazilians avoid the news, well above the world average of 38%. In Argentina, 46% now say they avoid news content. The other countries in the region surveyed were Chile (38%), Colombia (38%), Mexico (37%), and Peru (37%).
Journalists, editors and academics from Brazil, India, the United States and the United Kingdom identified that one of the great factors that erodes trust in the news is the way its content works on social and messaging platforms such as Facebook, Google and WhatsApp, on which they have no control over, according to a study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.