When, at age 13, I decided to become a journalist, I was encouraged by my father – a perfectionist and voracious reader – to question and discuss information I read in newspapers and magazines at the time. My brothers and I got used to seeing him call the newsrooms to ask about doubts about something he had read in a report, pointing out incomplete data, sometimes wrong, and making suggestions.
I miss this critical, alert reading, which does not settle for superficial, half-baked or doubtful information. Who is not content with “I heard” and goes after credible, reliable content. This attentive and demanding news consumer makes a very important contribution to quality professional journalism.
We live in a spectacular moment, of abundance of contents, which reach us at high speed, with diversity of sources and multiple accesses. All of us today have an autonomy never thought of to communicate, share and form our opinions. We can curate the subjects that interest us and consume them whenever and however we want. This is the wonderful side of the digital world.
Like journalists and the media, we consumers of information have a key role in strengthening professional journalism.
However, these possibilities are encouraging a harmful culture, with losses for citizenship: we are less demanding in relation to what reaches us as news. Without much thought, we trust and share, well-meaning that we are. There is not enough time to read, listen and watch everything we would like, but we cannot give up the demand for reliable and quality information that enters our lives and, many times, guides our decisions and provides subsidies for a reading of the world and to form opinion.
Distorted or false news (fake news) must be fought by everyone. Just like journalists and the media, we, consumers of information, have a fundamental role in strengthening professional journalism, questioning and suggesting to improve, never to offend or despise. Every time we opt for serious, quality journalism, when we encourage our families and friends to seek out reliable sources, when we understand the process of doing journalism and contribute critically and constructively in the name of correctly reporting the facts, we all win.
Anik Suzuki is CEO of ANK Reputation
anik@ankreputation.com.br
*Article published in Zero Hora on February 18, 2023
