Magdalena Saldaña takes over as Director of the UC Department of Journalism

“We need to train journalists capable of understanding an increasingly complex information landscape”: In March of this year, UC academic and IMFD researcher Magdalena Saldaña took over as director of the UC Department of Journalism. Her arrival marks a new chapter for the school at a particularly challenging time for the profession: growing disinformation, audiences avoiding the news, the accelerating emergence of artificial intelligence, and new ethical demands on future journalists.

The researcher acknowledges that this appointment is, above all, a vote of confidence: “I have built my career mainly through research and teaching. I had never held a management position before, so I see this as a huge endorsement: trusting that I can do something I have never done and still do it well,” she says of the role, entrusted to her by the Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Paulina Gómez.

Magdalena is a journalist and holds a Master’s degree in Social Research and Development from Universidad de Concepción, and a PhD in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research focuses on digital media, public opinion, political communication, and Latin American studies, with a special emphasis on topics such as disinformation, audience behavior, and news ecosystems.

Throughout her career as a researcher, Magdalena has held various academic, editorial, and leadership roles in organizations such as the International Communication Association (ICA). She is also currently a researcher at the Millennium Institute for Foundational Research on Data (IMFD) and deputy director of the Millennium Nucleus for the Study of Politics, Public Opinion and Media in Chile (MEPOP).

At the UC Faculty of Communications, Professor Saldaña has taught the courses Social Media Journalism, Data Journalism, Research Seminar, and Advanced Methodology for Communications I, and has supervised several doctoral theses.

The big challenges: news avoidance and information literacy

When discussing the current state of journalism, Magdalena does not hesitate to point out two critical problems affecting audiences: news avoidance and a lack of information literacy.

The first happens when people—consciously or not—move away from the news due to saturation, fatigue, distrust, or negativity. “If I switch to social media where the algorithm shows me only what I like, news may stop appearing for me altogether. And without information, people cannot make decisions, whether everyday or civic ones,” she explains.

The second difficulty runs even deeper: not knowing how to identify what counts as news and what does not. And in times of artificial intelligence, this challenge becomes even more complex: “Today, anyone can generate fake news that sounds perfectly real. If someone does not know how journalists write, they lack the tools to tell the difference,” she warns. For her, this is an issue that should be addressed not only in journalism schools, but at a national level. “It is something we should tackle starting in elementary school. How do we empower children to become informed citizens capable of understanding the ecosystem they live in?”

Artificial intelligence: integrating it the right way

Far from banning the use of tools like ChatGPT, Magdalena Saldaña advocates for their critical and transparent integration: “Saying we should not use artificial intelligence is like saying we should not use Google. It is absurd. What we need to teach is when its use is ethical, necessary, and appropriate,” she explains, though she acknowledges a significant risk in the news context: “If I am teaching writing, I need to assess the student’s writing, not a tool’s. But if I ask them to identify possible sources for a story, I see nothing wrong with using AI as a starting point.”

Training the best: a hallmark that remains

Regarding the mark she wants to leave as director, Professor Saldaña explains: “We have always wanted to train the best journalists. The best in professional, ethical, and practical terms. That does not change no matter how much technology changes.” However, the academic is emphatic about the importance of knowing and integrating new technologies: “Technologies cannot be ahead of us. We have to integrate them, but always in service of the same goal: telling good stories that help people make decisions and understand democracy.”

She also points out that new generations face more ethical temptations than ever before: “We did not used to have so many opportunities to do unethical things that also work. Today we do. That is why we must strengthen ethics training at every step.”

The UC Faculty of Communications is working on redesigning its curriculum, aiming to integrate updated content without losing core pillars such as practical training workshops. Professor Saldaña adds that it is key to provide journalistic experience from early stages, something she also seeks to strengthen.

Research as an engine for stronger teaching

As a researcher, Magdalena sees enormous room for the research produced at the Faculty to directly nourish undergraduate education. “We have a lot of evidence on effects, for example in fact-checking, news memory, or news perception. That does not always dialogue with teaching. And it should,” she reflects. For her, integrating studies on how people consume and process information could significantly strengthen professional training.

Regarding the benefits that the existence of the PhD in Communication Sciences program can bring to undergraduate studies, the professor considers there are several: “It is valuable for students to know that a nearby research world exists, one that explores the same topics they are learning about. There is a lot of potential synergy.”

Leadership for complex times

With a perspective that combines academic rigor, concern for the news ecosystem, and a strong ethical commitment, Magdalena Saldaña takes on the direction of the UC Department of Journalism with a clear conviction: “Training journalists today means teaching them to understand a much more complex information landscape. And giving them the tools to navigate it with responsibility, judgment, and public service.”

Source: Comunicaciones UC