One of the major trends that are determining where journalism is going at the present time has to do with the increasing emergence of media-driven professionals. It is a manifestation that has been termed entrepreneurial journalism or journalists' media and that is the fact that the journalist himself, in addition to developing information content, has ownership of the medium, and therefore, corporate responsibility. A phenomenon that can open new horizons for the future for the sector.
The origin of enterprising journalism is to be found in a double confluence: the economic crisis in the sector and the spread of digital technologies. The first factor, which started in 2007 in line with the international financial recession, has been a torpedo at the waterline of the sector. The sale of copies has decreased revenues by 41.3% between 2007 and 2014. This percentage is derived from the sharp decline experienced by the dissemination of the press. The main Spanish newspapers have been affected: the country lost 40.3% of its circulation during this period, El Mundo 55.4%, ABC 43% and La Razón 46.8%. Something similar has been happened with advertising. Revenues from this source are down 58.2% on average. Accordingly, the operating results of the Spanish newspapers in that period fell by 96.1% from 369.4 million Euros to 14.4 million. The effect has been that, since 2008, according to the Press Association of Madrid (APM), nearly 300 media outlets have closed in Spain and more than 12,200 journalists have lost their jobs. A scenario that has lit up all the alarms in today's journalism.
In parallel, the generalization of digital technologies, among which Internet and the Web 2.0, are favouring the emergence of new media driven by the professionals themselves. These technology platforms are overcoming the entry barriers to the sector. Thanks to them, investment in equipment for production of news reporting has been significantly reduced and also is configured as an accessible and open broadcast channel news. A scenario that has led many journalists to take the step of creating their own, mainly in the digital environment. In this way, they leave behind the role of employee and assume ownership of the media, calling into question the industrial model that has been dominant in the sector for much of the twentieth century and has survived to this day.
Spain, a paradigmatic case of enterprising journalism
