Journalism Is Not Communication, It Is Much More: Why the Word «Comunicación» Is Pernicious and Destroys Democracy

Abstract

Journalism is not mere communication but much more: it is an essential pillar of democracy. Journalism and science were born in the same time and place and share the same goal: to seek the truth and make it public, even when confronting power. Unlike communication—a hollow concept that encompasses everything from propaganda to fiction—journalism carries both an ethical and an epic dimension. From Socrates and Galileo to Gerlich and contemporary journalists murdered for their profession, history shows that those who challenge power with facts and evidence unsettle it and put their lives at risk. By contrast, fiction, propaganda, or entertainment—whether Aristophanes’ theater, Goebbels’ propaganda, or Coppola’s films—may influence society but rarely endanger the powerful, often protecting or whitewashing them instead. At a time when democracy in the West is under threat, it is striking that many universities replace the word journalism with communication. While all living beings communicate, only journalism, like science, systematically pursues truth. Reducing it to communication dilutes its mission and scope and, above all, strips it of its counterpower character.