The profession doesn't have a clear path forward anymore.
En Santiago de Compostela, más de cien periodistas españoles se reunieron para nombrar en voz alta lo que muchos ya intuían: su profesión atraviesa una transformación sin precedentes. La inteligencia artificial, la precariedad laboral y el acoso digital no son amenazas abstractas, sino realidades que reconfiguran el oficio desde adentro. La 85ª asamblea de la FAPE fue, en su esencia, un acto de lucidez colectiva ante un horizonte incierto.
- La inteligencia artificial ha irrumpido en las redacciones antes de que existan marcos éticos o educativos capaces de contenerla.
- La precariedad salarial y la inestabilidad laboral siguen erosionando los cimientos de un periodismo independiente y sostenible.
- El acoso digital se ha convertido en un riesgo profesional sistemático, especialmente para mujeres y periodistas que cubren temas sensibles.
- Las universidades forman a periodistas con herramientas ya obsoletas, desconectadas de la realidad digital que encontrarán al graduarse.
- La FAPE impulsa la actualización del código deontológico y el fortalecimiento de la representación de género como respuestas institucionales urgentes.
- El sector reconoce que las fuerzas que lo transforman lo superan, pero apuesta por la adaptación colectiva como única vía viable.
Más de cien periodistas de toda España se dieron cita en Santiago la semana pasada para la 85ª asamblea general de la FAPE, la Federación de Asociaciones de Periodistas de España, en un encuentro que funcionó tanto como diagnóstico como punto de partida. La reunión, organizada por la Asociación de Periodistas de Santiago con motivo de su 80 aniversario, abordó sin eufemismos los problemas más urgentes del sector.
La inteligencia artificial centró gran parte del debate, pero no desde la inquietud superficial por la automatización, sino desde preguntas más profundas: qué marcos éticos necesitan actualizarse, cómo deben formarse los futuros periodistas y qué significa ejercer el oficio en un ecosistema que apenas existía hace cinco años. Junto a ello, la precariedad laboral —vieja herida del periodismo— y el acoso digital —amenaza más reciente y especialmente dirigida contra mujeres y periodistas que cubren temas controvertidos— ocuparon un lugar central en las discusiones.
Los participantes coincidieron en que los planes de estudio universitarios no han seguido el ritmo de la transformación digital, y que los estudiantes se gradúan con herramientas ya desfasadas. También se planteó la necesidad de reforzar la representación de género dentro de las asociaciones profesionales mediante estructuras específicas.
La FAPE, fundada en 1922 en Santander, agrupa a 49 asociaciones federadas, 16 afiliadas y más de 17.000 miembros individuales. Su presidente, Miguel Noceda, describió el momento actual como «especialmente complejo para la profesión», una frase que condensa años de crisis acumuladas: disrupciones económicas, desinformación, concentración publicitaria en manos de grandes plataformas tecnológicas y, ahora, la irrupción de la IA generativa.
Lo que Santiago dejó no fue una solución, sino algo quizás más valioso: el reconocimiento compartido de que el periodismo está siendo rehecho por fuerzas que lo desbordan, y la determinación de que la profesión no puede ser ajena a las decisiones sobre su propio futuro.
More than a hundred journalists from across Spain gathered in Santiago last week for the 85th general assembly of FAPE, the Federation of Associations of Spanish Journalists, to confront a profession in visible strain. The meeting, held by the Journalists Association of Santiago on the occasion of its 80th anniversary, turned into something between a reckoning and a roadmap: a space where the sector's most urgent problems were named directly and without softening.
Artificial intelligence dominated the conversation, as it has come to dominate so many rooms where the future of knowledge work is being decided. But the concerns went deeper than the usual anxieties about automation. Journalists discussed how AI systems are reshaping their work, what ethical frameworks need updating, and how universities should be teaching the next generation of reporters to operate in a landscape that barely existed five years ago. The precarity that has long haunted journalism—the instability of employment, the erosion of wages, the pressure to do more with less—remained a central preoccupation. So did the newer threat of digital harassment, the coordinated campaigns and personal attacks that have become a hazard of the profession, especially for women and journalists covering contentious topics.
The assembly also took up the question of how journalism education itself needs to change. University curricula, the participants argued, have not kept pace with the digital transformation of the industry. Students are being trained in frameworks and practices that are already obsolete by the time they graduate. There was discussion too of updating the profession's code of ethics to account for AI's capabilities and risks, and of strengthening gender representation within professional associations through dedicated roles and councils.
FAPE itself carries weight in this conversation. Founded on May 19, 1922, in Santander, it is Spain's principal professional organization for journalists. It comprises 49 federated associations, 16 affiliated ones, and more than 17,000 individual members. The organization's president, Miguel Noceda, characterized the current moment as "especially complex for the profession," a phrase that carries the weight of understatement. In recent years, the sector has had to weather multiple crises and challenges in succession—economic disruption, the rise of misinformation, the concentration of advertising revenue in the hands of a few tech platforms, and now the arrival of generative AI.
The timing of the assembly in Santiago was not incidental. Xosé Merelles, Galicia's director of tourism, attended the opening and spoke about next year's Xacobeo—the Holy Year celebration that occurs every few decades when July 25 falls on a Sunday—as a draw for international conferences and professional gatherings. He framed it as an opportunity to attract congresses and meetings focused on sustainable tourism, cultural heritage, and other strategic sectors. A gathering of Spain's principal journalists' organization fits neatly into that vision, bringing professional attention and economic activity to the region.
What emerged from Santiago was less a solution than a recognition: journalism in Spain, like journalism everywhere, is being remade by forces largely beyond the profession's control. The assembly's work was to name those forces clearly, to insist that the profession's voice be heard in decisions about its future, and to begin the slow work of adaptation—in education, in ethics, in the structures that support journalists doing their work. Whether those efforts will be sufficient remains an open question.
Citas Notables
The current context is especially complex for the profession, which has had to defend itself against multiple crises and challenges in recent years.— Miguel Noceda, president of FAPE
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the journalists feel compelled to gather now, specifically? What made this moment urgent enough to bring over a hundred people to Santiago?
The profession is under pressure from multiple directions at once. AI is arriving faster than anyone anticipated. The economic model that sustained journalism for decades has already collapsed. And now there's this newer thing—digital harassment, coordinated attacks—that makes the work itself more dangerous, especially for certain journalists. When you have that many stressors hitting simultaneously, you either organize or you fragment.
The president called it "especially complex." That's careful language. What does he mean by that?
He means the profession doesn't have a clear path forward. In the past, journalism faced challenges one at a time—you could adapt, adjust, survive. Now it's everything at once. AI, precarity, harassment, the collapse of advertising revenue. There's no single solution. You can't just hire more people or invest in better equipment and fix it.
Universities came up repeatedly. Why is journalism education suddenly so urgent?
Because students are being trained for a world that no longer exists. By the time they graduate, the tools have changed, the ethical questions have shifted, the business models have evolved. If universities don't adapt, they're sending people into a profession they're not prepared for. It's a form of institutional lag.
What about the code of ethics? Why does that need updating for AI specifically?
Because the old code was written for human journalists making human decisions. AI raises questions the code never contemplated. How do you verify information generated by an algorithm? What's your responsibility when an AI system makes a mistake? How do you maintain editorial independence when algorithms are shaping what gets published? Those aren't small tweaks—they're fundamental questions about what journalism is.
And the gender councils they mentioned—is that connected to the digital harassment problem?
Partly. Women journalists face disproportionate online abuse. Having dedicated roles and councils within professional associations means there's institutional attention to the problem, resources allocated to it, a voice inside the organization pushing back. It's not a solution, but it's recognition that this is a structural issue, not just individual incidents.