“Only the tools change. The goal of the journalism, to be the pylon of demoсracy, remains the same”

On Wednesday, September 5, the 64th World Newspaper Congress and 19th World Editors Forum ended in Kyiv. On the eve of the event some were against holding them in Kyiv, considering them an advantage for the current power. As it turned out later, the organizers and foreign participants had the same doubts, too. However, in spite of all warnings, the forum and the congress did take place.

It is hard to tell how deeply foreign journalists understood Ukraine over three days of their visit to the Ukrainian capital. However, they were able at least to take interest in it. Since now when our country will be mentioned in the foreign press several hunderds of editors and top executives of the world publications will have a kind of images, an emotion which they will compare with the information coming to the world media space. But we all know that this information is frequently distorted or simply is superficial.

But the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Kyiv are more important from another angle. Owing to these media events Ukraine found itself in the heart of the world discussions. Holding them breaks the frames typical for us as a postcolonial state. George Shevelov writes about the threatening Ukrainian provinciality. Being involved in the discussion of this level is an opportunity to compare yourself with others, and after all discern better both our drawbacks and positive qualities. Another question is, to what extent have Ukrainian media people taken advantage of this opportunity?

Clearly the congress and the forum are platforms for talking about media as an industry. A huge attention is paid here to modern technologies and the tools of drawing the audience. There is nothing strange about it, as freedom of speech in the West is above all connected with economic independence which can be achieved only if the publication is profitable. Therefore the question of media as a successful business is an everyday challenge faced by at least the Western mass media. Ukrainian journalists have to work at two planes at a time. They are still facing the task of building civil society in the country, but it is advancing in a slow pace. However, the fact that Ukraine is still trying to catch up with Europe in terms of politics, does not mean that we should be lagging behind in other spheres. Therefore the World Newspaper Congress and the World Editors Forum were a good opportunity to grow in terms of technologies, pick up the experience of foreign colleagues in the sphere of instruments and master new platforms.

The Day asked the foreign participants of the forum several questions: what challenges is the world journalism facing today? Are printed editions, which have to compete with the Internet, preserving the balance between the quality of the publications and the need to earn money? How do they assess the level of discussion and what things did they observe during their visit to Ukraine?

Jacob MATHEW, president, WAN-IFRA:

“We have to be available on all platforms. Cost reduction’s important. However, quality of good content is what drives good journalism. And there should be no compromise on that.

“There has to be balance. When there’s good content, you will drive advertisers, you will drive viewers, you will drive readers to that area. What will be the platform, if the content is good, you will have the audience, naturally the profits will follow.

“This year’s level’s been good. It’s been relevant to the current day topics, like digital era, prepare us for the new and modern era better. You should not be caught unawares.

“The country is definitely beautiful, I find the people very nice and very hospitable. And we had some good interaction, we’ve been working in this area and things have gone on well. But the media is insufficiently present internationally to be the global-level player. So we are hoping this congress will make the beginning.”

Bernard MARGUERITTE, president of the International Communications Forum, a veteran of French journalism:

“When we had a new technology, every time we said: the previous technology is dead. So, when we had radio we said there would be no newspaper, when we had TV we said radio was finished. Now we have social digital media. They say: the newspaper is finished. I don’t think so, but on the other hand the printed media have to change, because for example the people are not looking for news anymore, they don’t really need the newspaper, because they have the news already from the Internet and TV. What you need is the meaning behind the news. And for that you need journalists who present the background, what is around this news, so that the audience could understand and that the people were listening to us, reading us. I think that the paradox of this situation is that bad printed media are dead. The tabloids have no reasons to stay around. But the good media, quality media explaining to people what is happening will be stronger than ever.

“My commission is the president of organization of International Communications Forum, we have a network of media people in 114 countries and our goal is to preserve the quality of journalism, so that the journalists performed their mission and their mission is to be the pylon of democracy, to be a tool bringing people together. And the goal has not changed. Only the tools have changed. Digital media are tools. As I said it was foolish to focus only on digital or printed media. What’s interesting is that we have a diversification of media, and we have a variety of tools to express. So the digital media will be there. They are fantastic as a tool and also because they are bringing a new civil right, so to say, a new human right even. Up to now we had the human right which was the right for the citizen, the right to be well-informed. Honestly informed. But now we have a new human right, that’s the right for everyone to inform thanks to social and digital media. That’s absolutely splendid. And the quality of the media should still be there, the difference is that in digital media first you find what you want. But the goal of the media is not to give the people what they want, it’s to give them what they need to understand the situation and to be citizens. So I don’t see that the goal of the media has changed. On the opposite, my view is that with growing digital media the printed media have to be of higher quality every time.

“This is an interesting congress. And I take part in it not because of the sessions, but because there is an opportunity to meet people and media from all over the world. At the session the problem for me as a journalist is that we have too many people involved in the business of journalism, business of media, talking about how to make more money with the media. And the second category is also people involved in the technology of the media, the new technology, which is very important, but there are too few people talking about what is still important for the media, the content.

“I read what Kyiv Weekly wrote in the editorial, just at the start of the congress, and they expressed reservation as for the value of having the congress now in Ukraine when the freedom of the press is not that strong and there are many political problems that we have seen, human rights, but also about the possibility for the media to properly express themselves. We have seen these difficulties for independent TV station to get the proper frequencies. So, that’s a kind of challenge. We hope that being here, talking about freedom of the press, about the goal of the media may have a positive impact. It’s always all risky when you go to a place where there is a lot still to do about the freedom of the press, if you go there, there is maybe the risk that you’ll give the authorities the feeling that you are cushioning what they are doing and you don’t mind after all, but the other aspect is that it may have an impact. It may help people feel freeer etc. My organization is devoted to that. We build a kind of solidarity among media people, among journalists all over the world and if they have problems with the media in some part of the world we all will be there to support them. And I hope that this congress shows that indeed the journalists from all parts of the world are feeling this solidarity towards their colleagues in Ukraine.”

John CRUICKSHANK, director general of Canada’s biggest newspaper Toronto Star:

“I think journalism is first an engagement with a media community. So I think the most important question for us is what do local journalists try to respond to the needs of the community, what are the issues they face. And I think clearly one of the big issues everywhere in the world is sustaining a business model that provides you with the resources you need to keep a newsroom employed. That’s probably the biggest single issue right there. Obviously, the next one is to be able to sustain an audience that engages or cares about the paper or the website whatever the device is, that cares about what you’re doing. And obviously one of the profound ones is being able to operate in the environment of free speech, free from any kind of manipulation and interference.

“I don’t know if there is a balance there. I think you make a decision about what it is that you want to do as a publisher. If quality is important to you, you will be trying to find the ways to create support or a quality product. And if you are only interested in making money, then you don’t care about that. But you care first about quality, and then you learn how to make money. I think we are seeing a number of models to emerge where we see how it’s done. The New York Times is beginning to blaze a trail.

“I saw there were three or four presentations that I found quite powerful and quite interesting. So you take a way the best of the best. That’s good enough.

“I haven’t been any much further than the center of the city. I’ve worked around for three days. I very much enjoyed your city. I love the fact that it is so green. You have so many parks, I think it is a wonderful thing, quite unlike many other cities. You of course have many places of great beauty, especially your churches. It’s a very friendly population. I will centrainly be recommending your city to friends to come and visit. At the same time you are aware that you’re in the middle of political evolution. And everyone is concerned about democracy in Ukraine, and all of us are committed to democracy. I hope that Ukraine can find its way to choose the way of dealing with the issues that it has in front of her.”

Cathy MA, head of Social Media, IPC Media, Great Britain:

“You should not be thinking only about the content, but be thinking about how to understand the audience. And especially with the digital revolution. We can measure everything, so you have a problem with having too much information and too much data. How you can use data and turn it into insights to make a better story will be a key challenge.

“I’m from the magazine world, so I don’t know exactly how that applies to other media, but I am thinking about the fact that if your content is good, people will pay for it, but if your content is bad, people won’t.

“I think I’ve learned quite a lot about media and news, because I’m not familiar with the press, the newspaper environment. But the challenge is enormous as well if you look on the data on how Western newspaper consumption is just declining quite steadily.

“I love Ukraine. People are very nice and the food’s just amazing. And we did a village visit, and those people were dancing, they were so sweet. We made a lot of photos with the kids as well. And you guys are amazing. I am having a good time.”