What was your first job as a journalist?
Rafael A. Junquera – My first job as a journalist was when I was in college, I was in charge of a publication called “women in technology”, where we reported women studying telecommunications. The idea was not to discuss about the telecommunications market but rather the personal stories behind women who made a career change towards telecommunications and how they were combining their daily life with this new venture.
How do you see the role of journalism today, especially in telecoms and ICT markets?
Rafael A. Junquera – The role of journalism has not changed in fact it is as needed as it has always been, the only difference is now that journalists must deal with an excess of information rather than scarcity. Other than that, the fundamentals behind journalism have not changed although the mainstream media has been shifting towards the new communicator, who does not follow journalism’s principles. Regarding journalism in the telecommunications market has only one caveat: you need to know very well the market, beyond generalities, to be competitive and that requires time for the journalist to get trained at covering it.
How do you think corporate communications can improve in Latin America in these times?
Rafael A. Junquera – Both, journalism and corporate communications can improve by following the simple yet difficult to accomplish principles when managing information for others and yourself: honesty. As long as both, journalists and corporate communicators, are honest with their readers and the market, respectively, then improving becomes a potential target. And managing information, honesty refers to the act of not hiding or twisting information to match preconceived beliefs, ideas or interests.
Any other thoughts related to this you would like to share with our audience
Rafael A. Junquera – I think journalism is not challenged as a profession, I think the business that supports it is. This is an important distinction because some non journalistic practices that we see in the media are because of this situation, where it seems regular journalism does not have, today, a valid business model. But this idea is wrong, it is like saying that because we have McDonald’s we do not want good and expensive restaurants.