News-Based Communication (NbC): What is it? And why is it so important?
(English version of a Portuguese original using Google Translator and Grammarly)
The fact that journalism is conditioned by the agenda of politicians, government officials, and businessmen meant that the press did not pay due attention to what happens in the immense space of message exchanges on social networks. Had it done so, the professionals would have seen that the interactivity between Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and YouTube users, to name just a few networks, is based on facts, events and emotions that configure a new type of news and an unprecedented phenomenon in the history of journalism, called News Based Communication (NbC, not to be confused with the American TV network).
It is a phenomenon that changes the classic definition of news included in journalism manuals and shows how ordinary people are beginning to be increasingly present and influential in social networks and, consequently, in the public space of debates. NbC is also starting to create new relationship structures between journalists and the public.
The debate on News-Based Communication is still basically restricted to the academic environment because newspapers, printed magazines, radio stations and television news programs avoid dealing with the subject since this would imply admitting that the current editorial model no longer meets all the information needs of the population. We are experiencing a period of transition in debate agendas. The public is still greatly influenced by the themes highlighted in the headlines of the mainstream press that continue to provide the raw news material that feeds the conversations, virtual and face-to-face, of ordinary people. But what is clearly perceived in the large social networks is that the agenda of the elites end up being modified in the debate among ordinary people, thanks to the incorporation of opinions, complaints, protests and individual concerns conditioned by a different context from that experienced in newsrooms. Another agenda and a new news format emerge.
New news concept
The traditional concept of news is at least 200 years old and was essentially conditioned by the political and business establishment. The definition was never seriously questioned because communication was a process controlled by elites. But with the arrival of the internet, the hegemony was broken and people began to communicate with each other, gradually introducing their interests, needs and desires into the conversation through social networks.
With this, the news ceased to be exclusively related to politics and the economy of the elites, to reflect issues such as potholes in the street, lack of water, the price of light, inflation and personal issues such as birthdays, sports passions, family disputes, deaths, etc. . These data, facts and events have become the most important news among the various social segments that make up the universe of a Facebook for example. It is this process that is at the origin of News-Based Communication.
Journalist’s role at NbC
NbC is still a space without defined rules, therefore subject to serious deviations such as fake news and hate speech. That’s where journalism comes in, not as a supervisor or a watchdog, but as a curator and mediator of social network users. Professionals are still unprepared for these functions. Despite this, they continue to have more technical conditions and knowledge than the vast majority of people to identify half-truths, false or out-of-context news.
News-Based Communication takes place in the chaotic environment of the information avalanche generated by the internet, so it is difficult to distinguish between what is relevant and what is superfluous, to separate reliable data from fake news or facts that are not properly contextualized. These are all essential questions for making the right decisions, but they are clearly out of reach for most people because of time constraints and a lack of familiarity with the complex world of information.
The role of a news curator is one of the new competencies that digital journalism is being asked to assume. A curator is a person who guides readers, listeners, viewers and Internet users to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of information. The new role requires a set of skills that are neither included in the curriculum of journalism schools nor in writing manuals, basically focused on news gathering and writing.
The exercise of journalistic curatorship implies a new type of relationship between the professional and the public. The relationship will inevitably occur in restricted information environments, communities, neighbourhoods or small towns because audience segmentation is an irreversible trend within the internet. Therefore, the journalist should be minimally familiar with local issues in order to be able to moderate debates, avoid hate speech, as well as carrying out the delicate mission of pointing out what is worth reading, listening to or watching.
All this implies the existence of a high degree of trust between the journalist and the members of his public segment. This will directly depend on the level of engagement between the professional and his community of readers, listeners, viewers and Internet users. And experience has shown that engagement is linked to the flow of news that interest and affects the community agenda of interests and needs.
