Fuentes mudas (en la web): periodismo transitpropaganda

Abstract

Informants constitute a fundamental resource in journalism. The reporter has largely relied on them, either to seek for specific information or to verify data or both. With the emergence of the Internet in the last decades, question-making is no longer the essential tool in the exchange between the journalist and the specific resources. Through the websites, we have gained access to more powerful sources of information. These sources, however, are biased to a great extent and provide conditioned, partial views, just as informants do. No doubt, the most dominant websites have imposed a new style in journalism-making, a ¨dumb journalism¨ which involves a one-way connection: no questions are asked while the right answers are still to be found. Journalism, in this way, seems to reduce dramatically to the bare minimum of becoming mere propaganda and advertising of the most powerful sites in the Web.