The former editor of El Mundo, David Jiménez, said that "the future of journalism is to be ethical, moral, rigorous and of quality" during an observatory held at Proa Comunicación on Wednesday 4 March. After making a quick review of his professional career, from his entry into El Mundo as an intern to his controversial arrival to the management after working as a correspondent for almost two decades in Southeast Asia, he defended that "journalism will always be necessary, because people need to know the things that affect them".
A statement that the former editor of El Mundo "for 366 covers" considered more important today than ever due to the return of authoritarianism and the increase in the degree of manipulation. "Lies are winning and we need journalism for the truth to win again", he added. But in order for the media, the mainstay of journalism, to survive, they need to "reinforce their brand, to bet on quality and independence and then to create a subscription system", given that for years "they have not been able to survive on advertising". As a way of financing them, he also expressed his doubts about paywalls, which he considered end up limiting access to information "to the elites".
Regarding the contribution of communication agencies to ethical, rigorous and quality journalism, he considered their role as advisors to their clients "to prevent them from falling into immorality" to be very important.
Most of David Jiménez's presentation focused on his time as editor, a position he reached, surprisingly even for him, after finishing his time as a correspondent in Asia and after obtaining a Nieman scholarship at Harvard University, where he spent a year training in journalistic projects of digital transformation. A period recounted in detail in his controversial book 'The Director', in which he unravels the intricate relations between the media and the upper echelons of political and economic power, "a corrupt system in which the wall that should exist between the two has been torn down", in his words.
The experience, which lasted only a third of the expected time "due to pressure from inside and outside the company", started badly from the first day, when the security guard did not want to let him enter the newspaper's headquarters because he did not know him. Despite the illusion with which he arrived, "believing the promise that they would give me means, time and money", from the very beginning there was a "train wreck between the reporter and the world of managers who received generous bonuses and had ruined the company, which they supported with political and economic favours". It was also a time in which the most painful part was "dealing with the newsroom", which was put in front of him with an ERE six months after landing, in which he tried to keep his promise to be faithful to journalists and readers and in which he was aware that "you are digging your own grave when you oppose the decisions of your bosses". But "the courage to say no is a requirement of journalism, even if you know you are going to lose", he stressed.