Journalists and News Vendors: The Internet Is Becoming Less and Less Trustworthy

I am aware that I may raise the eyebrows of many Internet users and the active members of this fantastic medium that is the Internet. However, my awareness does not exempt me from expressing my opinion on what is happening to the contents that now travel at the speed of light thanks to the Internet. All the more so since I use my personal blog to share my uncertainties. Without wanting to get lost any further in ‘chit-chat’, as we say where I’m from, I’ll get straight to the point.Lately, I’ve noticed with increasing frequency the proliferation of blogs. So far, nothing new—after all, I too use a similar tool to express my opinions. Yes, my opinions. And that is exactly what I am referring to. The very idea of blogs, of personal diaries, is a democratic one. In full respect of the right to information and free speech, each of us expresses our own viewpoint. Readers are fully aware that they are receiving the writer’s thoughts and, above all, the opinions of those who fuel the blog. But blogs, in my humble opinion, are not journalistic sources. Unfortunately, however, my way of thinking is not widely shared on the Internet. Therefore, in the jungle of search engines (which are often the gateway for those accessing the Internet), you’ll find more and more articles that are copied, dry, lacking both information and personal insights, yet presented as unquestionable truths. In short, the journalism profession is disappearing and information is increasingly manipulated.

As if that weren’t enough, in recent times news and blog aggregators have appeared. It’s a way of serving up news to users by the kilo. Yes, by the kilo, because lately that’s how news seems to be measured. Not to mention fact-checking news before publication, which is now something from another era and a duty of journalists that, apparently, remains so only on paper.

Finally, I’ve also noticed that the law on publishing, which requires an information website to be registered at the relevant court, is increasingly ignored and sometimes trampled on, as if a law only applies to the lawmakers themselves. Many think this law is intended to impose censorship or a gag, while in reality it is a law that regularises information, which fundamentally must be well separated from personal opinion. A blog gathers personal thoughts and expressions and as such is not a news publication; a news site, on the other hand, informs and must be a registered publication.
Simple, isn’t it? Yet it’s not the case. Many blogs play at being news sources as well, presuming to inform and with full knowledge that the publishing law is to be avoided to escape legal obligations. I find this behaviour unfair, just as I find it unedifying that many claim to be journalists without being registered (someone is a journalist only if they are registered with the journalistic association). To become a doctor you must be registered, same for architects, so I don’t see why journalism should be any different. But that’s how it is… I’ll stop here because I don’t want to “add more fuel to the fire,” though I won’t hide my nostalgia for reading a good article, full of useful and, above all, verified information.