Journalism
Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOU : Journalism
| Topics in Journalism[.] |
|---|
| Professional concepts |
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Ethics & News values Objectivity & Attribution News source News & Investigation Reporting & Writing Business & Citizen Alternative & Advocacy Science journalism Other Topics & Books |
| Outside influence |
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Infotainment & Celebrity Infotainers & Personalities Distorted news & VNRs Yellow journalism Public relations Propaganda model |
| News media |
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Newspapers & Magazines Agencies Broadcasting Online & Blogging Alternative media |
| Roles |
| Journalists, Reporters, Editors, Anchors, Photojournalists, |
News-oriented journalism is sometimes described as the "first rough draft of history" (attributed to Phil Graham), because journalists often record important events, producing news articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with their stories, news media organizations usually edit and proofread their reports prior to publication, adhering to each organization's standards of accuracy, quality and style. Many news organizations claim proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions accountable to the public, while media critics have raised questions about holding the press itself accountable.
Reporting and editorializing
Journalism has as its main activity the reporting of events — stating who, what, when, where, why and how, and explaining the significance and effect of events or trends. Journalism exists in a number of media: newspapers, television, radio, magazines and, most recently, the World Wide Web through the Internet.
Generally, publishers and consumers of journalism draw a distinction between reporting — "just the facts" — and opinion writing, often by restricting opinion columns to the editorial page and its facing or "op-ed" (opposite the editorials) page. Unsigned editorials are traditionally the official opinions of the paper's editorial board, while op-ed pages may be a mixture of syndicated columns and other contributions, frequently with some attempt to balance the voices across some political or social spectrum.
However, the distinction between reporting and opinion can break down. Complex stories often require summarizing and interpretation of facts, especially if there is limited time or space for a story. Stories involving great amounts of interpretation are often labelled "news analysis," but still run in a paper's news columns. The limited time for each story in a broadcast report rarely allows for such distinctions.
Journalists who believe they are being fair or objective may give biased accounts -- by reporting selectively, trusting too much to anecdote, giving a partial explanation of actions, or engaging in one-sided gotcha journalism. (See Media bias.) Even in routine reporting, bias can creep into a story through a reporter's choice of facts to summarize, or through failure to check enough sources, hear dissenting voices or seek fresh perspectives. As much as reporters try to set aside their prejudices, they may simply be unaware of them. Young reporters may be blind to issues affecting the elderly. A 20-year veteran of the "police beat" may be deaf to rumors of departmental corruption. Publications marketed to affluent suburbanites may ignore urban problems. And, of course, naive or unwary reporters and editors alike may fall prey to public relations, propaganda or disinformation.
News organizations provide editors, producers or news directors whose job is to check reporters' work at various stages. But editors can get tired, lazy, complacent or biased. An editor may be blind to a favorite reporter's omissions, prejudices or fabrications. (See Jayson Blair) Provincial editors also may be ill-equipped to weigh the perspective (or check the facts of) a correspondent reporting from a distant city or foreign country. (See News management.)
A news organization's budget inevitably reflects decision-making about what news to cover, for what audience, and in what depth. Those decisions may reflect conscious or unconscious bias. When budgets are cut, editors may sacrifice reporters in distant news bureaus, reduce the number of staff assigned to low-income areas, or wipe entire communities from the publication's zone of interest. Investigative reporting can be expensive -- requiring months of attention, long-distance travel, computers to analyze public-record databases, or use of the company's legal staff to secure documents under freedom of information laws.
Feature-writing
Newspapers and periodicals often contain features (see under heading feature style at article news style) written by journalists, many of whom specialize in this form of in-depth journalism.Sources
Journalists' interaction with sources sometimes involves confidentiality. Many Western governments guarantee the freedom of the press. By extension, these freedoms sometimes also add legal protection for journalists, allowing them to keep the identity of a source private even when demanded by police or prosecutors; withholding sources can land journalists in contempt of court, or jailtime.
Legal Status and Blogging
The growth of Internet do-it-yourself publishing in the late 1990s, especially the weblog or blog style of personal publication, gave rise to debates of "are bloggers journalists?" At issues are not only role-definitions, egos and relative status, but practical questions of access to public events, crime scenes and press conferences, as well as legal questions in jurisdictions where journalists have special privileges -- such as protection against being forced to disclose confidential sources or information.
Nations or jurisdictions that formally license journalists may confer special privileges and responsibilities along with those licenses, but the United States' tradition of an independent press has avoided any imposition of government-controlled examinations or licensing. Some of the states have explicit shield laws that protect journalists from some forms of government inquiry, but those statutes' definitions of "journalist" were often based on access to printing presses and broadcast towers. A national shield law has been proposed.
Meanwhile, bloggers are on the watch for cases that might set legal precedent concerning their rights as journalists. For example, in a 2005-2006 California case brought by Apple Computer, an Appeals Court judge said online writers who published information from anonymous sources were entitled to the same protection as other journalists. There was "no workable test or principle that would distinguish 'legitimate' from 'illegitimate' news," the court said. ([Related story])
External links
- Wikia has a wiki about: [[wikia:journalism|]]
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