Slow down and dig deeper

I usually cover topics related to the digitalization of the media industry. But I think it is also important to talk about the negative effects of the velocity and immediacy of news that digitalization brought. That’s why, in this week's article I’m going to tackle one of the trends that is counteracting these negative effects, namely slow journalism.

The trend of the slowness has been applied in different fields, such as travel and food. The main principle is to take time to elaborate and consume high quality products/services, and enjoy the process.

“In journalism, with the internet and its extreme velocity, journalists don’t have time to think, talk with people, and pursue the truth. All the incentives that we have created in the current system favor velocity: the faster you publish, more money you would receive,” explained Rob Orchard, co-founder and editorial director of the recognized slow journalism magazine Delayed Gratification.

“In 2011 we launched Delayed Gratification with the idea of giving an alternative to this. The printed magazine, which does not have ads, revisits the most important event of the last three months and answers the question: What has happened after?,” he added.

When you report breaking news, everyone is interviewing the same sources at the same time, whereas in slow journalism you have the possibility of digging deeper into the topic, consulting experts, following up on government commitments, and finding other aspects of the story that haven’t been told before.

From the point of view of the readers, slow journalism publications give them a break from the screens and the ads, and can consume quality and reliable information in an enjoyable way, Orchard exposed in an interview with Coming up Next in Journalism.

“We have lost so many newspapers and journalists and we have thrown ourselves into a technological world in which it is so easy to lie.?

“But I’m optimistic because there are people who know that their social media is full of lies that contribute to their state of fear and sadness and they want something different,” Orchard stated.

Besides Delayed Gratification, there are other slow journalism publications such as the Spanish magazines Alternativas Económicas and Jot Down, the English Tortoise, Slow News in Italy, Long Play in Finland, among others.

The business model of these publications is subscription or membership, and they frequently offer other services such as access to events and online classes.

Books publications are other source of income for slow journalism companies.        

Traditional media companies also practice slow journalism when they publish investigative pieces, but this is not their main focus.

According to Orchard, the readers of Delayed Gratification are people who consume a lot of newspapers, magazines, and online information, so the magazine is something complementary.?

This shows that both types of journalism (slow and breaking news) can co-exist. It would be ideal if we could have more and more consumers that do not conform to the daily feed, but try to go deeper to really understand what is happening.

Did you know about slow journalism?

Are you willing to give it a try?

Please let me know in the comments section.

Better journalism >> Better societies