Itziar Bernaola,Newtral:"I believe that the future and the present of journalism is on the internet"

Itziar Bernaola is the director of Newtral Education, she is also a journalist and has created and directed numerous investigative reports and television programs such as "¿Donde estabas entonces?" of La Sexta. Newtral is a digital medium that creates audiovisual content through important news and denying false news.

Newtral is a digital medium that fights against misinformation so it encourages critical thinking so that in this way people can distinguish erroneous information and do not distribute hoaxes seeking verification with reliable data. For this reason, Newtral launched a project (Newtral Education) to share the knowledge and experience of its journalists who perform data verification and fact-checking with a rigorous methodology, and publish the data in prime time on TV, on the web and in social media. Currently the new generations are more informed through platforms such as the internet, instagram, twitter ... so from Newtral they consider it essential to train the reader with a critical spirit, and that is what they intend through their networks.

The digital medium does not pose too many limitations since it is a medium in which practically all formats can coexist, in addition they not only inform through their website but also share information through social networks such as instagram and twitter which they consider a very useful tool for journalism, however social networks also have their drawbacks because they often contribute to generating noise and spreading disinformation. For example Twitter that has many advantages for a journalist since it allows to discover and contact sources as well as discover great stories to tell.

Regarding the differences between a digital and a traditional medium, Newtral's Director of Education, Itziar Bernaola, clarified that there are no differences in the quality of both media. The preparation of the informative agenda of a digital medium is not very different from that of a traditional medium, the only thing that changes is the development, the formats and the final product.

Just as the way of relating to the reader is different from traditional journalism, it is also important to know what the profile of a digital journalist is and if it requires other skills than a traditional one. Itziar tells us about it, telling us that a digital journalist requires the same skills as a traditional one, such as a critical spirit, the ability to analyze and synthesize, a nose for finding a good story, communication and writing skills, rigor, etc., as well as more linked to new technological tools, such as database management, for example. But to a large extent these needs will also be covered by incorporating other profiles such as engineers, visualization experts and programmers into the newsrooms. But the best way in which a journalist can easily adapt to the digital medium is by being an awake, restless person, eager to learn every day and to face new challenges.

Itziar explains to us how journalism has gone through numerous crises and considers this one as one more. The arrival of the internet - which also coincided in time with the economic crisis of 2008 - turned the sector upside down and now it is time to adapt and find new business models to offer quality products that allow us to regain credibility and audience. The digital medium is a format that is still developing and has many things to learn, such as finding a profitable business model compatible with offering readers quality journalism that gives them credibility and satisfies their interests.

Many media are starting to use robots to write minor news or to introduce hyperlinks to news automatically that go to content of the medium itself with the aim of multiplying visits, all these advances could in some way interfere with the role that a journalist in a digital medium, but Itziar explains to us that it is evident that there are functions that robots cannot and will not be able to perform, in which the intervention of a person will always be necessary, a journalist in this case. But there are other automation processes that are interesting to explore and that can facilitate certain fields of journalism.

The future and to a large extent the present of journalism is on the internet. Not only in the daily press, but also in radio and audiovisual, but it is a slow process that will take a long time to adapt to find new business models. At the moment, the "gold mine" towards a new journalism is not yet in sight.