To understand journalism, let's dissect the word. The root for this discipline is jour, the French word for "day." Therefore, a journal is a record of what happens day to day, and journalism is the practice of documenting daily events. And what are these events? News. The background of this word is simple: news is the plural of new, and news is all the things that newly happened that day: special events, births, deaths, marriages, fights, sporting events, tragedies, celebrations, and weather.
Personal journals go as far back as the development of writing, as the daily lives of first nobility and later the average man were kept as records to ensure that any memory gaps in the future could be filled in. News reporting is just as old, with newspapers appearing as early as 1602. Yet the idea of journalism wasn't popularized until the 1800s, starting where the word started: France. The country was in turmoil after the French Revolution, with different groups vying to fill the power vacuum left by the now beheaded king. To get the populace behind them, each political faction published their own pamphlets arguing for why they should rise to power. Most made their argument by negatively portraying the other political factions, and many even lied while doing so. The French people couldn't tell what was true from what was fiction, which led to the bloody rise and fall of several ruling coalitions that General Napoleon Bonaparte exploited to become Emperor.
This flood of unverifiable information led to a push by France and the countries watching the French Revolution from afar to elevate the power the press (those involved with the printing press, i.e. writers and publishers). Traditionally, every country was thought to be divided into three "estates" struggling for power: the nobility, the clergy (members of the church), and the commoners. To mediate these power struggles, countries turned to news reporters to become "the fourth estate," one that would keep the other estates in check by investigating the other three estates and objectively publishing what each was up to. Non-partisan newspapers started getting a massive amount of funding as governments started creating "press boxes" for reporters to witness events.
This is still the role of journalism today: Journalism is the activity of observing and investigating the day-to-day events of a society and then reporting what is found publicly in an accurate and unbiased way.
Personal journals go as far back as the development of writing, as the daily lives of first nobility and later the average man were kept as records to ensure that any memory gaps in the future could be filled in. News reporting is just as old, with newspapers appearing as early as 1602. Yet the idea of journalism wasn't popularized until the 1800s, starting where the word started: France. The country was in turmoil after the French Revolution, with different groups vying to fill the power vacuum left by the now beheaded king. To get the populace behind them, each political faction published their own pamphlets arguing for why they should rise to power. Most made their argument by negatively portraying the other political factions, and many even lied while doing so. The French people couldn't tell what was true from what was fiction, which led to the bloody rise and fall of several ruling coalitions that General Napoleon Bonaparte exploited to become Emperor.
This flood of unverifiable information led to a push by France and the countries watching the French Revolution from afar to elevate the power the press (those involved with the printing press, i.e. writers and publishers). Traditionally, every country was thought to be divided into three "estates" struggling for power: the nobility, the clergy (members of the church), and the commoners. To mediate these power struggles, countries turned to news reporters to become "the fourth estate," one that would keep the other estates in check by investigating the other three estates and objectively publishing what each was up to. Non-partisan newspapers started getting a massive amount of funding as governments started creating "press boxes" for reporters to witness events.
This is still the role of journalism today: Journalism is the activity of observing and investigating the day-to-day events of a society and then reporting what is found publicly in an accurate and unbiased way.
The Role of a Journalist
Acting as the fourth estate, Journalism is pretty important to society. News provides society with information the public needs to know to be successful in their everyday life. News alerts us of changing laws and policies, of potential public health crises, and of common products or habits that will help or hurt a person. While reporting the weather may seem anodyne, knowing that it will rain in the afternoon can change the plans of many people. The score of a football game may seem unimportant, but several communities tie their athletic teams to their pride in their community. To ensure journalism does its job, journalists use their craft to serve these roles:
Journalists document news: Journalists must make sure all news is documented and recorded in some way, whether it be writing, photography, video, or audio. When documenting news, journalists should be as equitable as possible: what happens in Congress is just as newsworthy to cover as the town hall meeting even if one of those things sounds more "important." The historians will look at the facts and decide importance: the job of the journalist is to make sure none of those facts goes missing for want of coverage.
Journalists verify news: Journalists can't be everywhere all 24 hours of the day, so they often need to document news without immediate observation. They may rely on the work of other journalists, press releases, published reports, and interviews to fill in the gaps of their documentation. But people can lie. Recall the French Revolution: liars, skewed statistics, false accusations, and faked evidence led to the need for the fourth estate. Thus, journalists must independently verify that all of their information is true and accurate. They do this in a variety of ways, typically through use of primary sources and sources agreeing with one another.
Journalists report news: News is not news if it is not shared with the public. Journalists have a responsibility to take what they've learned and, so long as it is verified, inform the community. While there are times that a journalist has an ethical reason for not releasing all of the information they have discovered, the purpose of journalism to not hoard information but disseminate it so others may benefit.
Journalists monitor power: Specifically, journalists monitor the other three estates and make sure that each is acting in good faith. The modern nobility (governments and wealthy corporations) has the resources to cause harm to people and environment that support them while hiding their activity, so journalists keep watch and alert the people of any misdeeds that happen. Journalists keep watch over the clergy of all denominations, as the devout put their trust in these figures that aren't always as honest or pious as they seem. In turn, journalists observe the common people and report their desires, frustrations, wants, needs, trends, attitudes, and feelings; this allows the nobility and clergy to know what their public/parishioners are thinking so they can better respond to the community (keeping people happy and therefore keeping their social standing stable).
Journalists warn society: The previous paragraph shows that journalists act to alert the public of any problem it has discovered. Like the canary in the coal mine, journalists must warn society when something is not right. Often, this happens with breaking news, such as a sudden storm or accident that can put other people at risk. Sometimes journalists pass on the warnings of others, such as scientific or economic forecasts regarding climate change, evolving illnesses, upcoming stock crashes, and rising inflation.
Journalists elevate humanity: Journalism may seem like doom and gloom from that previous entry, and it's true that journalists have the unpleasant task of delivering bad news. Fortunately, there is good news too. Journalists get to tell a community about new businesses, fun events, incredible sports wins, exciting films and concerts, and positive developments in society. Newspapers and journals often run profile features of inspiring individuals and their stories and travelogs of interesting places--while these stories may not be as vital as an incoming blizzard, they serve an aspirational role to motivate and please readers. It's vital that news includes writing that is entertaining and appealing to people... otherwise, they won't keep reading.
Journalists document news: Journalists must make sure all news is documented and recorded in some way, whether it be writing, photography, video, or audio. When documenting news, journalists should be as equitable as possible: what happens in Congress is just as newsworthy to cover as the town hall meeting even if one of those things sounds more "important." The historians will look at the facts and decide importance: the job of the journalist is to make sure none of those facts goes missing for want of coverage.
Journalists verify news: Journalists can't be everywhere all 24 hours of the day, so they often need to document news without immediate observation. They may rely on the work of other journalists, press releases, published reports, and interviews to fill in the gaps of their documentation. But people can lie. Recall the French Revolution: liars, skewed statistics, false accusations, and faked evidence led to the need for the fourth estate. Thus, journalists must independently verify that all of their information is true and accurate. They do this in a variety of ways, typically through use of primary sources and sources agreeing with one another.
Journalists report news: News is not news if it is not shared with the public. Journalists have a responsibility to take what they've learned and, so long as it is verified, inform the community. While there are times that a journalist has an ethical reason for not releasing all of the information they have discovered, the purpose of journalism to not hoard information but disseminate it so others may benefit.
Journalists monitor power: Specifically, journalists monitor the other three estates and make sure that each is acting in good faith. The modern nobility (governments and wealthy corporations) has the resources to cause harm to people and environment that support them while hiding their activity, so journalists keep watch and alert the people of any misdeeds that happen. Journalists keep watch over the clergy of all denominations, as the devout put their trust in these figures that aren't always as honest or pious as they seem. In turn, journalists observe the common people and report their desires, frustrations, wants, needs, trends, attitudes, and feelings; this allows the nobility and clergy to know what their public/parishioners are thinking so they can better respond to the community (keeping people happy and therefore keeping their social standing stable).
Journalists warn society: The previous paragraph shows that journalists act to alert the public of any problem it has discovered. Like the canary in the coal mine, journalists must warn society when something is not right. Often, this happens with breaking news, such as a sudden storm or accident that can put other people at risk. Sometimes journalists pass on the warnings of others, such as scientific or economic forecasts regarding climate change, evolving illnesses, upcoming stock crashes, and rising inflation.
Journalists elevate humanity: Journalism may seem like doom and gloom from that previous entry, and it's true that journalists have the unpleasant task of delivering bad news. Fortunately, there is good news too. Journalists get to tell a community about new businesses, fun events, incredible sports wins, exciting films and concerts, and positive developments in society. Newspapers and journals often run profile features of inspiring individuals and their stories and travelogs of interesting places--while these stories may not be as vital as an incoming blizzard, they serve an aspirational role to motivate and please readers. It's vital that news includes writing that is entertaining and appealing to people... otherwise, they won't keep reading.
Challenges Journalists Face
While journalism is an important and noble profession, it is not easy. Journalists are constantly under different pressures regarding their news reporting. The most immediate pressure is that of the clock: news is, well, new. A breaking story must be documented, verified, written, proofed, and released as soon as possible so the public gets the information they need and so another news outlet doesn't inform everyone first. If readers read about it somewhere else, they probably won't read yours.
Getting readers is a major challenge, especially in the crowded modern media environment. News outlets don't just compete for eyes with one another but with social media and app alerts. This means that news outlets need to prioritize speed, brevity, and topics people want to read. At best, this leads news outlets to create more diversified stories with unique perspectives on topics. At worst, this leads to rushing through verification (meaning inaccurate stories) and sensationalizing stories to get views. There is a despicable phrase used in the most unethical of newsrooms: "if it bleeds, it leads," meaning that they prioritize negative and horrifying stories over uplifting ones.
Why do outlets do this? Ultimately, journalism is a business, and the cost of paid reporters, equipment, printing, and website hosting fees are offset by news advertisements. To get advertisers to invest, news outlets have to assure them their ads will be seen through viewer metrics and social media interaction. Sadly, there are times where the focus on money and profit overshadows journalistic ethics, leading to the rise of fake news outlets crowding out legitimate news sources. The rise of fake news has eroded public trust in journalism all over the world, leading to hostility toward journalists and their efforts to inform the public. This coupled with an occasional anger over what the journalists report (shooting the messenger, as it were), the modern journalist has to not just uphold the public trust but actively fight for it.
Getting readers is a major challenge, especially in the crowded modern media environment. News outlets don't just compete for eyes with one another but with social media and app alerts. This means that news outlets need to prioritize speed, brevity, and topics people want to read. At best, this leads news outlets to create more diversified stories with unique perspectives on topics. At worst, this leads to rushing through verification (meaning inaccurate stories) and sensationalizing stories to get views. There is a despicable phrase used in the most unethical of newsrooms: "if it bleeds, it leads," meaning that they prioritize negative and horrifying stories over uplifting ones.
Why do outlets do this? Ultimately, journalism is a business, and the cost of paid reporters, equipment, printing, and website hosting fees are offset by news advertisements. To get advertisers to invest, news outlets have to assure them their ads will be seen through viewer metrics and social media interaction. Sadly, there are times where the focus on money and profit overshadows journalistic ethics, leading to the rise of fake news outlets crowding out legitimate news sources. The rise of fake news has eroded public trust in journalism all over the world, leading to hostility toward journalists and their efforts to inform the public. This coupled with an occasional anger over what the journalists report (shooting the messenger, as it were), the modern journalist has to not just uphold the public trust but actively fight for it.
How to Be a Successful Journalist
Despite these challenges, journalism is still alive and well. One of the reasons is that, with the rise of digital media, it is now easier than ever to be a journalist. All someone needs is an idea, an audience, and a place to post their news item. To be a SUCCESSFUL journalist though takes a little more work. A successful journalist need to develop and refine these skills:
A great way for a journalist to develop and refine these skills is not just reporting on their own but by working as part of a larger team at an established news outlet, whether its an organization as large as NBC News or as small as the local interest magazine. But the best way to develop these skills? Read lots of news articles, note what works, and keep writing your own articles until they're just as good.
- writing in a compelling and interesting way
- the ability to write and edit copy quickly
- knowing their audience and what stories they want to read
- the ability to successfully interview sources
- gathering and verifying information through research
- integrating images, audio, and video for audience engagement
- self promotion through social media and SEO
- building a reputation through ethical and useful reporting
A great way for a journalist to develop and refine these skills is not just reporting on their own but by working as part of a larger team at an established news outlet, whether its an organization as large as NBC News or as small as the local interest magazine. But the best way to develop these skills? Read lots of news articles, note what works, and keep writing your own articles until they're just as good.