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Among the various consequences of the inexorable passage of time and therefore of the progressive global change due to mass digitisation and the generalisation of savoir-faire, the role of the journalist has undergone numerous meanings and changes over the last five to ten years.
On the one hand, it is fair to draw a parallel with Baudelaire's so-called "halo loss", according to which the poet, in this case the journalist, realizing that he has almost lost his primary social role, turns the situation in his favor. It is very important to make the distinction between the two situations from the outset, because while in the 19th century poet it was the progressive commodification of art that made it marginal, in the 21st century the journalist had to (and still is) dealing with the digitization of his usual means of communication, i.e. press articles
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In a way the journalist, especially the fashion journalist but not only, is one of the many guinea pigs and victims of technological progress, who has to probe the ground very slowly to avoid clashing and merging with other professional figures native to the digital age. In any case, it has been and is necessary to remodel the way of working on the basis of the needs required by society (often indirectly) and many journalists have thought to do so using their most winning weapon, namely the awareness of having a voice.
Having a more or less wide audience of listeners and having the ability to express themselves at their best are bases that have made possible the diffusion of "eco-sustainable" messages, for example, in cooperation with many fashion designers who have decided to make their productions less polluting and therefore less harmful to the environment.
On the left is a British Vogue insert from the January 2020 issue, in which fashion director Kate Phelan, in her search for the looks for the photo shoot, mixed items from old collections with new ones, combining the concept of recycling with that of evergreen fashion in an archival and avant-garde concept. Continuing on, Vogue Portugal’s September issue is entirely dedicated to the theme of eco-sustainability and recycling: “Planet Earth is THE trend. In Vogue Portugal's September issue, sustainability is read throughout 400 pages of paper from sustainable forests. Because Planet Earth is not a frivolous thing. It's a priority.” (Quoting directly Vogue’s words).
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On the same theme, Vogue Paris and Vogue Italia were also involved, with captivating and above all engaging cover titles. Once again the journalist, together with all the editorial staff (but also creative directors, stylists and digital experts) uses his professional title and his skills in the best way possible to send a message of public interest, involving not only readers interested in fashion, but also and above all those interested in current affairs.
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As for the consequences of the digitization of everything that until a few years ago was paper and material, first and foremost fashion magazines, the journalist can certainly take some advantage of it. First of all, he can confirm and in some way "claim" his talent, reshaping himself to the incessant fluidity and the inexorable change that society makes available to him.
Secondly, the journalist has the possibility to intervene actively and constantly in the fight against environmental pollution, starting to publish his writings only online and in digital versions.
The world is changing: what used to be collected proudly in shelves at home or in large local libraries is now enclosed in mobile phones, computers, tablets and kindle. Fashion magazines can now be read at any time and in any place, and the digital subscription corresponds to the one you still have today, where you receive it monthly at home .
This happens not because magazines have lost importance or because people have lowered their ability to concentrate, as many say, but because nowadays people have greater awareness of their role in the world and the gravity of certain gestures that were previously underestimated.
Personally, as an aspiring journalist, I admire the role,the responsibilities and the risks of this profession and above all I admire the speed with which fashion journalists manage to concentrate fashion, news, information and technology in small-medium manuscripts, always different day by day.
Years go by, eras evolve, traditions change and needs increase, but the journalist maintains his professionalism and importance, especially now in 2020, when society increasingly needs a voice to lead them towards an increasingly updated, healthy and transparent level of information.
Fashion is for anyone who knows how to listen to it and understand it, but the work of a journalist can be considered satisfactory, when it influences and entices even people who are not familiar with the subject to read it and does so in an extremely diverse and exciting way.
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