Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (professional or not), the methods of gathering information, and the organizing literary styles.
The appropriate role for journalism varies from country to country, as do perceptions of the profession, and the resulting status. In some nations, the news media are controlled by government and are not independent.[1] In others, news media are independent of the government and operate as private industry. In addition, countries may have differing implementations of laws handling the freedom of speech, freedom of the press as well as slander and libel cases.
The proliferation of the Internet and smartphones has brought significant changes to the media landscape since the turn of the 21st century. This has created a shift in the consumption of print media channels, as people increasingly consume news through e-readers, smartphones, and other personal electronic devices, as opposed to the more traditional formats of newspapers, magazines, or television news channels. News organizations are challenged to fully monetize their digital wing, as well as improvise on the context in which they publish in print. Newspapers have seen print revenues sink at a faster pace than the rate of growth for digital revenues.[2]
Journalistic conventions vary by country. In the United States, journalism is produced by media organizations or by individuals. Bloggers are often regarded as journalists. The Federal Trade Commission requires that bloggers who write about products received as promotional gifts, disclose that they received the products for free. This is intended to eliminate conflicts of interest and protect consumers.[3]
When crafting news stories, regardless of the medium, fairness and bias are issues of concern to journalists. Some stories are intended to represent the author's own opinion; others are more neutral or feature balanced points of view. In a traditional print newspaper and its online version, information is organized into sections. This makes clear the distinction between content based on fact and on opinion. In other media, many of these distinctions break down. Readers should pay careful attention to headings and other design elements to ensure that they understand the journalist's intent. Opinion pieces are generally written by regular columnists or appear in a section titled "Op-ed", these reflect a journalist's own opinions and ideology.[5] While feature stories, breaking news, and hard news stories typically make efforts to remove opinion from the copy.
According to Robert McChesney, healthy journalism in a democratic country must provide an opinion of people in power and who wish to be in power, must include a range of opinions and must regard the informational needs of all people.[6]
Many debates centre on whether journalists are "supposed" to be "objective" and "neutral"; arguments include the fact that journalists produce news out of and as part of a particular social context, and that they are guided by professional codes of ethics and do their best to represent all legitimate points of view. Additionally, the ability to render a subject's complex and fluid narrative with sufficient accuracy is sometimes challenged by the time available to spend with subjects, the affordances or constraints of the medium used to tell the story, and the evolving nature of people's identities.[7]
– journalists who self-censor and voluntarily cease speaking about issues that might embarrass their hosts, guests, or powerful politicians or businesspersons.
Access journalism
– writing to advocate particular viewpoints or influence the opinions of the audience.
Advocacy journalism
– written or spoken journalism for radio or television
College degree: 56 percent; graduate degree: 29 percent
61 percent specialized in journalism/communications at college
62 percent identified as generalists and 23 percent as hard-news beat journalists
47 percent were members of a professional association
80 percent worked full-time
50 percent worked in print, 23 percent in television, 17 percent in radio, and 16 percent online.
American Journalism Review
Columbia Journalism Review
Health News Review
Ryerson Review of Journalism
Hanitzsch, Thomas et al. eds. Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures around the Globe (2019)
online review
Rodgers, Ronald R. 2018. The Struggle for the Soul of Journalism : The Pulpit Versus the Press 1833-1923. Columbia Missouri: University of Missouri Press.
Kaltenbrunner, Andy and Matthias Karmasin and Daniela Kraus, eds. "The Journalism Report V: Innovation and Transition", Facultas, 2017
Marthoz, J.-P. (2016). Giving up on the graft and the grind: Why journalists are failing to cover difficult stories. Index on Censorship, 45(2), 22–27.
Sterling, Christopher H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of journalism, *(6 vol, SAGE, 2009).
de Beer Arnold S. and John C. Merrill, eds. Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems (5th ed. 2008)
Shoemaker, Pamela J. and Akiba A. Cohen, eds. News Around the World: Content, Practitioners, and the Public (2nd ed. 2005)
