“Today the role of journalism is to give meaning to the news”

International associaton of newspapers Project Syndicate unites 470 quality periodicals from all over the world. The Day has been a part of the association for 14 years now. Through cooperation with Syndicate we introduce the views of world leaders: politicians, economists, philosophers, and writers, i.e., people who are respected and honored, to our readers.

Recently The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna had a meeting with Project Syndicate Global Relations Manager, Jonathan Hoffmann. Further cooperation of the periodical and Project Syndicate was touched upon during the conversation. By the way, Hoffmann was greatly surprised by the number of projects The Day conducts besides publishing the daily newspaper.

Despite his busy schedule, Hoffmann was kind enough to answer some questions.

Recently you replaced Greg Ivanov on the Global Relations Manager position, and now you are responsible for relations of Syndicate with different countries, Ukraine in particular. What tasks have you set on this new post?

“The main thing for me and Project Syndicate is that we create long-lasting and noticeable relations with countries we work in. Otherwise, we would lose access to the readers without these relations. Thanks to publication of our materials in local newspapers, it is possible to carry out high-level debates involving our partner countries. For example, when Vaclav Havel writes about what is going on in Ukrainian politics, it also reaches Norwegian, Columbian, and Australian readers. Their approval or disagreement is not our final goal. For us the positive result is reached when people talk on these topics. Establishing quality connections with newspapers gives me a better understanding of markets we work at. This also lets us tell about our product for the readers’ benefit.”

What challenges arise today for print media? What is necessary to solve them and provide quality information to the readers?

“There are a lot of challenges, in fact. It is important that while the number of digital media and the quantity of content is increasing, people start realizing the real value of newspapers and professional journalists that talk about urgent matters. Because it is getting harder and harder to understand what is going on. But on the other side, printed media need to find new ways to move forward and promote their product through the digital paradigm, looking for new ways of monetization. Of course, every market has its own features. If you look at the Asian or South American press market, the number of printed media increases there. But if you look at the same market in the US: newspapers are shutting down, journalists become unemployed. I think, the most important thing for readers is what the whole world needs – understanding that you need to pay for quality periodicals. It cannot be free. I think people prefer quality information, the way it is done by London Evening Standard, The New York Times, or Le Mond. But the task is to overcome the gap between the readers, their expectations of free content, and the ability of newspapers to produce quality material. So, we live in a very uneasy time, because media industry in changing extremely rapidly. So many innovations have been done recently! Just look at the increase in the number of printed copies of tabloids. And this was not even a topic for discussion two years ago. And where are we going to end up in two more years? I think there are a lot of things publishers can be afraid of, but they can turn the current situation to their profit. At the same time it seems to me that the readers start to appreciate quality journalism. I suppose that printed media will keep on maintaining their online versions. However, I do not think that the press will die out completely: it will rather take a different shape. Even now many interesting ideas concerning this have been made. In particular, very interesting processes are going on in Slovakia, where national payroll records have been established. Something similar is in Denmark too. Besides, there are a lot of providers, like Google, where you can find numerous opinions on how to make newspaper content profitable online, how to make it earn money.”

What do you think about the situation of journalists, who have to provide quality content to the readers in conditions of information quantity and availability increase?

“News cycle of the world we live in now is very rapid. Look at the growth of social media popularity. For example, Twitter, where people publish information using only 140 symbols. This opens wide perspectives for reporters, because platforms like these allow them to make previews of their material. But you have to watch out. Let us remind ourselves about WikiLeaks, the largest world network that became a cause of serious scandals. When Julian Assange sent first dispatch of secret materials to the four largest newspapers, they spent a month calculating all possible threats that publication of these materials will put upon common people’s lives. And when WikiLeaks started publishing materials by themselves, hundreds of people were forced to leave their houses in Baghdad for the fear of revenge. I think, today the role of journalism is in giving some meaning to the news.”

What are the most quality Ukrainian periodicals, in your opinion?

“I think that I will feel more confident answering this question after I study Ukrainian printed media market. Actually, this is the reason why I came here. That is why it is so important for me that I hear your opinions, learn about how things work during this conversation with you and your editor. I had a meeting with the president of Ukrainian Associaton of Press Publishers, and these steps give me more knowledge about the market. But, as I have already stated. I like the fact that The Day is also being published in English. This gives me an opportunity to receive information from Ukrainian journalists, information that is not filtered by Russian press agencies. And I must state that the quality of what I read in Ukrainian printed media or on Ukrainian websites is good. Ukrainian market has to face the problems of censorship, need of creating business relations with advertisers, as well as any other market. But I still think that the quality of Ukrainian journalism still remains quite high in given conditions. I also like that Ukrainian readers are interested in our authors. Of course, they do not have to agree to the materials we are publishing, but this generates a dialogue. And I am flattered that Project Syndicate’s publications are involved in this process and have such relations with the readers.”

What can you say about the role of social media in the modern toolkit of a journalist?

“Of course, they play an unbelievably important role nowadays. However, these platforms also have a negative impact. On Twitter, for example, you can only use 140 symbols per message, which makes it hard to express your thought sometimes. Obviously, this platform is used to publish a link to some material, to make readers pay attention to it. In this way social media make newspapers a bit closer to their audience. If you look at the printed media represented on Facebook and Twitter, you will notice that they have a modern feedback channel with their readers. Besides, this is a window to real life of other countries, which we had not known before. If you look at the role of Twitter and Facebook in the Arab Spring, or even during some cataclysms, like, for example, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, then you will see that they let the rest of the world know what local inhabitants of those areas felt, and the problems they had to face. Social media changed the process of news arriving to better.”