If we want to sell journalism, we have to do journalism’, it is an assertion that can be read in Anglo-Saxon journalism. It is quite obvious, but media companies tend to forget it quite often. Today, and in light of the current events, doing journalism is not enough, we need more, which is why we must prioritize other ways out, e.g. solutions (and there are many, there is no silver bullet to solve everything).

Let’s start with an evidence: Media companies are going through a deep crisis, which intensified with the current pandemic, but journalism and journalists have never been so necessary like today. It’s a paradox that requires a solution, or several, to make sure we have an informed society and a substantive and not just formal democracy with voting and elections and little else.

The crisis of media companies and journalism itself is not new, it’s not a pandemic, and is also the result of its own mistakes and not only of the ill-fated social media or the result of changes in the information consumption profiles. The country’s stagnation in the last decade and the pandemic have further aggravated the general situation of difficulty.

And there are at least two essential preconditions to save journalism (I don’t like this kind of drama very much, but let us use this formulation to highlight one aspect): Mergers and acquisitions, on the one hand, and innovation and technology, on the other, are necessary conditions to guarantee independent journalism that will be able to perform its role. Without capital, everything will be much more difficult, more painful, but capital will only be there if these conditions are met.

First, mergers and acquisitions. There are too many newspaper companies and too many media, hence the sector has to go through a process of consolidation, just like in the last 20 years. There may be mergers and acquisitions of companies preserving the same publications, but something will have to happen here. Because we need scale. There is no advertising market for so many media. The strategy has always been the same, cutting costs, and this also means doing less journalism or the same with much less quality. And readers are not only smart, but they are also demanding.

Secondly, media companies must also live to their status of technological companies. The way media reach readers, their usability is a critical point and almost always overlooked in the business and journalistic decision-making process. We are all used to thinking about news and undervalue the way it reaches readers, and this has to change. The media are not competing only with each other, which in itself is already difficult. They compete to grab the readers’ attention and with platforms such as Netflix, Spotify or HBO. These platforms offer content but they also have technology and they serve as a true benchmark when comparing the technological development of applications and information sites.

Readers are there and they want journalism. Now it’s up to us.