Beyond the Screen: Keeping Journalism Relevant in a Digital World
Ma’am Ahlette C. Reyes is not afraid of change.
As the Information Officer of the Philippine Information Agency, she works across 40 towns, where information can travel through a phone long before it reaches a newspaper page or a radio broadcast.
For Reyes, that change is simply part of where journalism is going.
“Let us go with the times.”
— Ahlette C. Reyes, Mini Presscon
Reyes, however, quickly added a condition: Journalists must still stand by the principles they have always followed.
It is a belief that seems to shape the way she talks about digital journalism.
To Reyes, going digital also means learning how to tell stories through graphics, videos, livestreams, podcasts, hyperlinks, and other formats that allow audiences to experience information differently.
The reason is simple: the audience or target market has moved.
With fewer people relying on traditional radio and printed newspapers and more people spending time on digital platforms, Reyes believes journalists have to meet them where they are. Audiences now expect information as events happen, often watching short clips, checking updates, and responding to stories in real time.
Yet for all her enthusiasm about the possibilities of digital media, Reyes keeps returning to one word.
Verify.
She believes the speed of digital journalism is one of its greatest strengths, especially during emergencies, but that same speed can make misinformation travel just as quickly. Information can be published almost instantly, edited when necessary, and reach people across geographical boundaries, but none of that matters if the information itself cannot be trusted.
“Accuracy is still greater than virality.”
— Ahlette C. Reyes, Mini Presscon
It is a line that sounds especially fitting coming from someone whose work involves getting information to communities.
She also believes journalism has become more interactive. Readers can comment, share, react, and even provide additional information, turning audiences into participants in the conversation.
But Reyes is careful about giving that participation too much authority.
In her view, everyone can post something now, which makes the role of journalists and editors even more important. Information needs people who can stop, check the source, examine the context, and determine whether something actually deserves to be published.
There has to be a gatekeeper.
That same caution extends to stories involving privacy, particularly when minors or young people are involved. Reyes said journalists must continue applying the same principles used in traditional journalism, even when working on platforms that encourage information to move quickly.
The platform may have changed, but the core responsibility has not.
Even with artificial intelligence becoming part of modern journalism, Reyes remains steadfast. She sees it as something journalists can use sparingly, particularly for grammar or sentence structure, but warns against depending on it for an entire story.
For her, convenience cannot replace judgment.
And perhaps that is what stands out most about Reyes. She speaks about new technology without treating it as something journalists should either fear or blindly follow. She sees its usefulness, but she also knows where its limits are.
When asked how journalists can uphold their principles in a world where stories can be altered for clicks, her answer returns to the same place.
Go back to the core and, of course, do not compromise accuracy.
For Reyes, the future of journalism may include screens instead of paper, livestreams instead of broadcasts, and audiences scattered across the world instead of gathered around one publication.
But the journalist still has to make the same choice before pressing publish.
“Credibility over clicks.”
– Ahlette C. Reyes, Mini Presscon
And in a digital world that keeps moving faster, she seems determined to make sure journalism does not forget what it is moving for.
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