What is Journalism - Essay Example

What Is Journalism? What Is Journalism? Introduction This essay’s main objective is to create an understanding of the concept of journalism and all that it entails. The paper will examine various concepts involved in journalism including the types of journalism and news reporting across different platforms or media. The essay will also examine different approaches of understanding journalism such as the historical, production and ethical perspective of journalism. Finally, the other area of focus for this paper will be on examining the rights and responsibilities of journalists as they engage in their profession, challenges that journalists face in relation to ethics and the various ethical principles that guide journalists in their day-to-day activities. Journalism refers to the practice of reporting issues, events, and trends to mass audiences using different channels or media of communication such as print, broadcast, and online media. Journalists, inquire, investigate, disseminate and analyze news and other pieces of information in order to inform and educate the public through mass media like newspapers, books, television, radio, and blogs among others (McBride & Rosenstiel, 2014). Journalism is a noble profession based on principles of disclosure, truth and independence. The main purpose of the profession of journalism is to tell stories and facts about current events, ideas and issues of interest in an objective way. Journalism offers a wide range of information and news to the public relating to different topic with the objective of informing and educating different audience. News, according to journalism, refers to the communication of identified and selected pieces of information on current news. News may be delivered to individuals, small groups or wider audiences through various channels of communication. News includes feature stories, breaking news and investigative of enterprise stories. Journalism also involves giving opinions on various issues and topics through reviews, columns and editorials (Meyers, 2010). Journalists are the individuals who collect, analyze and publish news stories and other information for different audiences to access. Journalists are also known as reporters or writers. Types of Journalism There are several types of journalism categorized depending on the targeted audiences and purposes. Each of the different types of journalism employs a different writing and presentation style with a unique approach to gathering and delivering news and information to audiences. The main forms of journalism include advocacy journalism, gonzo journalism, broadcast journalism, investigative journalism, yellow Journalism, tabloid journalism, and photojournalism (Muhlmann & Birrel, 2008). Advocacy journalism is a form of journalism where the journalist of the reporter intentionally expresses a personal or subjective point of view in order to make the report more factual. Despite being subjective, advocacy journalism is distinguished from bias and propaganda, which do not represent factual truth (Innis, 2008). Gonzo journalism refers to a form of journalism where the person telling a story is part of the main story and tells it from a personal or subjective point of view. Gonzo journalism allows journalists to give news and other information from a first person perspective, where the reporters are the main protagonists in the story (Paterson & Domingo, 2008). Investigative journalism, on the other hand, involves reporters investigating and researching on a specific topic such as corruption, crime or any other interesting topic in order to bring out or expose the facts surrounding such a topic. Photojournalism entails gathering, editing and presenting images for broadcast or publication in order to tell a story. Photojournalism mostly refers to images, but may also refer to videos used in broadcast journalism. There is a slight distinction between photojournalism and other types of photography such as street photography and celebrity photography. Photojournalists work within a rigid ethical framework that demands for impartiality and honesty in telling a story using images, unlike other photographers who may not necessarily have a code of ethics to guide them in their professions (Simonson, 2010). Tabloid journalism is a type of journalism that tends to lay emphasis on certain sensational topics such as crime, astrology, and gossip about celebrities and other public figures. Another type of journalism is yellow journalism, or yellow press, which involves the use of illegitimately researched or less researched stories with catchy headlines to attract attention of the target audience. Some of the techniques that the yellow press uses include exaggeration, sensationalism, and scandal mongering, often in an unethical fashion (Smith, 2011). Broadcast journalism, on the other hand, is the most common type of journalism, which entails publishing and broadcasting news through electronic means such as radio, television, and the internet. Historical perspective of Journalism Journalism can be understood in different perspectives including the historical, production and ethical perspectives. From a historical perspective, journalism developed from traditional methods of gathering and delivering news to more technologically advanced methods of mass communication and news delivery (Conboy, 2004). Since the history of man, there has always been a demand for information and news about different events happening in the community. Before the 18th century, news delivery was mostly by word of mouth. There were people in the community, who specialized in delivering information and news to other. The main sources of information and news during this historical time were the authority and other relevant and recognized people in the community. The history of journalism began with newspapers in the 17th century followed by magazines in the 18th century. The 20th century saw a major revolution as both development of television and radio took place. The internet came in the 21st century. In the 1400s, business executives in Germany and Italy started organization different written chronicles about different events and sharing the compilations with other business colleagues, but it was not until the 17th century that the idea of using the press to print new items first materialized in Germany. In all the countries that adopted the printing press in Europe during this time, all publications had to be authorized by the government, and were mostly used as instruments for spreading the governments’ propaganda. In other areas out of Europe, for instance in China, development of journalism followed much the same approach, beginning with newspapers, magazines and periodicals. Chinese journalism began with the publication of China Monthly Magazine between 1812 and 1821(Polumbaum & Xiong, 2008). The first newspaper in Chinese language was the Eastern Western Magazine that was published between 1833 and 1838. In the 20th century, Europe witnessed tremendous development of journalism with new channels of communication that mainly targeted mass media. These were radio and television. These new media of communication were much faster, reliable and reached to a larger audience. In the 21st century, journalism experienced yet another development with the introduction of the internet. The internet is another form of mass media channel of communication that reaches out to people around the world regardless of their geographical differences. In China, television and radio broadcasts developed in the 20th century after the Second Sino-Japanese War (Cappé,2006). The first national television channel, Beijing Television, was launched in 1958. In the same year, Shanghai Television, a regional television channel was also launched. Another television channel, Liaoning Television, began in 1959 (Ma, 2010). This opened way for other provinces to launch their television and radio channels to broadcast their own programs. Production perspective of Journalism The production perspective if understanding journalism exposes a different aspect of journalism. This perspective exposes the details of one of the functions of journalists, namely the process of gathering, organizing, and delivering information and news to the audience. Production of journalism involves creation of news stories and information for public consumption (Czarniawska-Joerges, 2012). News production and sharing of information has undergone several changes in relation to changes in technology and audience perspectives. During the initial stages of development of journalism, the production process was mainly in the hands of the government authorities. Journalism was used by the state to create and produce propaganda and other stories from the state or other powerful individuals in the country. This however changed with time as journalism became more independent and moved away from control of the state. Journalism became more responsible for production of their stories, and journalism developed into a professional institution and discipline with its values, theories and frameworks of operation. Production of news and information depends on various factors such as the type of communication medium, technology available, and the target audience. Newspapers, magazines and other print materials mostly entail gathering information, and writing it for publication. Television and radio involve more complicated processes of production because of the nature of broadcast journalism. In broadcast journalism, there are specific teams of journalists who work together collaboratively to produce quality information and news for broadcast to the public. These teams include reporters, editors, sub-editors, news producers, directors and anchors. The reporters collect information on the ground and send the information to the newsroom, where the other journalists work on it to make sure it meets the quality for broadcast to mass audiences. New technologies that came with mobile phones, smart phones, and the internet brought in a different perspective in news production. With the internet and mobile phone technology, news production moved from being within the confines of the journalism profession to anybody who is knowledgeable in using these technologies. The internet and mobile phones empower the public to create stories and share information on the spur of the moment (Allan & Thorsen, 2009). Eye witnesses of various events can send text messages to their friends via mobile phones and inform them on various events happening around them. The internet has also revolutionized news production in a greater proportion with elements such as social media networks, interactive websites, blogs, video sharing sites like YouTube and emails. Anyone in the public can produce a news story and share it to the public through blogs, social media, video links, or post such information on a website for the public to access (Bruns,2005). This shows how journalism has expanded over the years in relation to changes in technology. It is important to note, however, that while these new technologies have improved journalism in general, in terms of enabling people to easily produce news and the audience to access information and stories, there is a decline in the quality of news available. Some of the stories and information available on the internet and that shared through the mobile phones may not be objective, truthful, factual, and the publishers of such information may not be guided by any ethical standards. Some people, nevertheless, go out of their way to produce quality information and have become valuable sources of information on the internet, despite not having a background in journalism (Tong, 2012). Ethical Perspective of Journalism The profession of journalism is established on a framework of ethical standards that guide journalists on how they conduct themselves on a professional level (Brown, Black, & Society of Professional Journalists (U.S.), 2011). The codes of ethics and moral standards may differ from place to place but all have certain themes in common, namely objectivity, accuracy, impartiality, truthfulness, public accountability, fairness, originality, restraint, and transparency. These values are core to the journalism profession as they help to maintain high quality standards of news and information sharing. From this perspective of journalism, one is able to understand the obligatory role of journalists in trying to maintain quality and accountability. This is what sets professional journalism aside from other sources of information and news. Journalism ethics and standards set out the appropriate framework of rights and responsibilities for journalists. Framework of rights and responsibilities The profession of journalism has changed over the years over the years to become a professional field and discipline as it is known today. Journalists are guided by a set of ethical principles that require journalists to maintain professionalism in their practice. It is these ethical principles, rights and responsibilities of journalists that make journalism a professional field. This ethical framework of journalism stipulates the different obligations, rights and responsibilities of journalists. Journalists have different obligations to the public, government and the profession itself. Journalists have various responsibilities including the responsibility to be truthful, independent, relevant, comprehensive, impartial and loyal to the public. Journalists also have various rights, like any other professionals. They are protected by law in their process of gathering information and cannot be unlawfully assaulted in the cause of duty. Journalism must also ensure social responsibility in their professional practice. This implies that journalists should not violate rights of individuals and that they should be objective, comprehensive, and independent. Journalists should also be guided by community opinions and remain faithful to their code of ethics. Journalists also have a responsibility to respect the legal structures in place. Adherence to the law helps to maintain public trust in the profession and prevents confrontations with authorities. Apart from having these responsibilities, journalist also have various rights that have to be respected and granted in the law in order to make it easier for journalists to practice their profession. Among the rights of journalists include media freedom, freedom of speech, and protection of sources. The framework of rights and responsibilities makes it easier for journalists to relate with other people in the society and amongst themselves. It creates an environment where journalists can practice their profession without any fear. This is crucial to dissemination of news and information because, for instance, journalists will not feel compelled to cover certain stories, or reveal their source to third parties. The framework of rights and responsibilities is at the core of the journalism profession since it aims at ensuring there is a favorable environment for journalists to prosper. Ethics in Practice and Challenges to Journalism Ethics In practice, journalists are expected to maintain high standards and observe all ethical principles in their work. Journalists in different environments encounter many challenges in their attempts to respect their code of ethics and remain true to their profession. Challenges to journalism ethics may include legal problems, difficulty in accessing information, corruption, and government involvement in journalism by interference with media freedom (Bandurski & Hala, 2010). In Asia and other growing democracies, journalists have more challenges in comparison to journalists working in developed countries like Europe and America. In China for instance, the code of ethics for journalists requires them to be independent and truthful, while at the same time requires them to be loyal to the government and the communist party (Lu, 2014). This provides many challenges to journalists in trying to give the public accurate news and information, because such information need not offend the government of the day. The Chinese Government also limits journalists from covering certain issues and regions (Josephi, 2010). The independence of the media and the journalism profession is not a guarantee in China, which makes it difficult for foreign journalists to work in such an environment (French, 2009). Journalists in China face harassment and violence as they try to collect news and information for the public. The situation in China and other emerging democracies around the world represents a major challenge to journalism. Journalists in these countries have trouble in trying to access information, organizing, and presenting the information to their audiences. This environment makes it difficult for journalists to remain faithful to their codes of ethics at all times because sometimes they have to go against the grain to find out the truth. Several journalists in China have endured persecution from the state and other authorities while also having to overcome various legal huddles affecting professional practice of journalism. China also restricts the use of popular social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. Issues like these discourage responsible journalism and amount to denying people their rights to information. Conclusion In conclusion, therefore, it is of significance to note the professional development of journalism from its roots in European newspapers to contemporary media like the internet, television, mobile phones, and radio. While different journalists around the world work in different environments, the profession, journalists are bound together by different elements of the profession such as the framework of journalism rights and responsibilities and the code of ethics. The call for respect for human rights, with issues like freedom of speech and right to information being at the heart of human rights movements, journalism has adopted a human rights approach and has now become part-and-parcel of human life. It also is important to understand journalism from different perspective in order to have a broader understanding of the profession. Journalism is very important in any society because it influences how people receive and share news, information and day-to-day activities. There are different types of journalism that all embrace the same objectives, ethical framework, and methodology. Some of the types of journalism include broadcast, gonzo, tabloid, advocacy and photojournalism. From a historical perspective of journalism, one is able to understand of the profession of journalism as an institution that is concerned with delivering news and information to the public (Chandler & Munday, 2011).Journalism has moved from being under control of the government to being an independent and objective institution capable of delivering factual and reliable news and information. The production perspective of journalism, on the other hand, is very important in helping people understand and appreciate the value of information that they receive in terms of its quantity and quality. Journalism as a profession has undergone a lot of changes in terms of news production and information sharing with changes in technology. With a production perspective of journalism, one can understand what the role of journalists entails, what journalists go through before giving out the news and information to the public, thereby making people appreciate journalism even more than before. Journalists are also guided by a strong code of ethics that stipulates the rights and responsibilities of journalists in their profession. It is these ethical principles, rights and responsibilities of journalists that make journalism a professional field. Journalists have different obligations to the public, government and the profession itself. Journalists have various responsibilities including the responsibility to be truthful, independent, relevant, comprehensive, impartial and loyal to the public. There are challenges that journalists encounter in trying to remain faithful to their ethical framework, including difficulties in accessing information, corruption, and interference from government authorities. References Allan, S., &Thorsen, E. (2009).Citizen journalism: Global perspectives. New York: Peter Lang. Bandurski, D., &Hala, M. (2010).Investigative journalism in China: Eight cases in Chinese watchdog journalism. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. 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(2012).Investigative journalism in China: Journalism, power, and society. New York: Bloomsbury. Read More