Interview: Public want reliable information ever faster: director of Notimex

Societies in both Latin America and China are searching for ever faster, reliable, timely access to information, said Alejandro Ramos, director of Mexico's state news agency Notimex.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Ramos said media in both regions need to maximize the power of the Internet to get close to readers and promote the image of their countries, not just with daily news, "but with positive aspects, such as culture, sports, shows, arts and economy, themes which are very interesting for users."

The director participated in a summit for Chinese and Latin American media executives, which took place Tuesday in Santiago, Chile, to discuss the challenges facing communication media in the digital age.

Latin America-China relations are at their best ever stage, as shown by the visits by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Ecuador, Peru and Chile in recent days, Romas added.

He also emphasized that "communication media play a very important role to favor this type of cooperation."

Ramos recognized that in a globalized world, traditional press has stopped being attractive to the public, especially in developing countries, and that new audience seek out information through new channels such as social networks.

While social media "do not do journalism, and do not have the knowhow ... or the trust of communication media, they do influence public opinion and reflect social interest," he elaborated.

"The process of change that communication media had gone through since the Internet appeared 25 years ago has created a new way to organize journalism work," explained Ramos. "There is a constant updating and a skill involved in making use of digital tools and methods."

Ramos stated that news agencies like Xinhua are models to follow "for their organization, their coverage, their ample and diverse proposals, which present many different platforms of news release, besides traditional text, photo and video. They use social networks and all the tools at their disposal."

Ramos, who had been the editorial director of the Mexican daily El Financiero for 30 years, said news agencies have an important and growing role to play today, as they generate around 80 percent of global news.

Since 2013, Notimex has blazed its own path in digital journalism, seeking to ensure a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, focusing on its own content at the highest level of trustworthiness.

"Notimex is immersed in a process of change toward digitalization, which is needed for us to provide a better service to our users ... this allows us to better attend to the communication media who hire us and to the population," he explained.

In conclusion, Ramos said the Notimex has continuously trained its personnel, including commercial and administrative teams, by offering basic courses on the proper use of smart phones, video cameras and photo equipment, as well as language and writing skills, all those needed for an efficient digital ecosystem. Endi