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Journalism Definition
Journalism is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers or magazines or of broadcasting news on radio or television. Journalism is not only working with newspapers or magazines and the likes, it is the activity or the act of gathering, assessing, creating and presenting news and information.
A Journalist is also someone that does all these, he/she gathers, writes, distributes news, a good Journalist disseminates unique, original information. A Journalist might also be specialised on certain issues like; we have investigative journalism, yellow journalism and some others which we will be discussing in our subsequent post, so relax and keep your fingers crossed and watch out for our subsequent articles.
Lets talk about the figures and qualities of a good Journalist, every profession has its own qualities and features that the society look up to:
while doing some of my research, I stumbled on an article online "10 Qualities of a Good Journalist" by Rafael Olmeda.
Olmeda is an adjunct professor of writing at Florida International University and an assistant city editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He joined the staff of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as a general assignment reporter in 1999, before that he spent six years as a reporter for the New York Daily News, covering his hometown of the Bronx. He won 3rd place in the Florida press club's contest for crime reporting. He became an assistant city editor in July 2005.
What marvelled me about his article is that he related the qualities of a good Journalist with the qualities of a good person written in the bible….am not going to talk much about it but will say a little of it.
He said:
1. Blessed are the compassionate for they shall not forget they are dealing with people:
Even if you are not compassionate, you should try and show it especially those on the television. He made reference to Rebecca Aguilar's case, who he said had an interview with a man who defended his property and killed two intruders in the course. In course of their discussion, he told Rebecca that he is going to buy another short gun because he lost his other two to the police and Rebecca replied: "oh, I'm gonna catch up with you there." "I don't want to talk to you." "So don't tell where you are. I'm a Journalist, I'll see you at the gun shop."
She catches up with him in the parking lot and they had an interview. Olmeda did not go into details on the case but he said Rebecca got into trouble over the interview because in the video she aired, she did not appear compassionate: it did not reflect on her face.
2. Blessed are they who are outraged by injustice, for that outrage is the one bias tolerated in journalism:
Olmeda said that journalists should oppose abusive powers, misappropriation of funds, hypocrisy in public officials; those holding one position publicly while doing something else publicly or privately. Journalist should also oppose hypocrisy in Journalism: by exposing flaws in those you oppose while covering the same flaws in those you favour, it doesn't make sense, its really wrong.
3. Blessed are skeptical, for they shall verify what they are told:
A Journalist should always verify vividly whatever the information he/she got before broadcasting or publishing it: Olmeda said, it's a Journalist's duty to discover and uncover, to verify and to reveal. He said, it's no one's job to tell you the truth, no one is paid to say the truth. No one is going to be insulted for verifying an information. No one is going to say, "Don't you trust me?" and if they asked so, simply reply, "Yes, that's why I'm going to verify it. Journalists should also verify their sources…this is important.
4. Blessed are the well-sourced, for they shall never be without a story.
5. Blessed are they who know their rights and freedoms, for they shall not be intimidated:
Journalists are enjoined to know their rights, get to know the Federal Freedom of Information Act., the state public records laws, state opening meetings laws. Olmeda said: "When you denied information, the information is also denied to the public and if the public is entitled to an information same also it is to the Journalists" so if you know all your rights, you will never be intimidated.
Roles/Duties of Journalists
Journalists keep the public informed about events and issues and how they affect their lives. They search public records and other sources of information, they also interview expert sources. The roles/duties/responsibilities of a Journalist is quite enormous and they include:
Reporting:
Actually Journalists first have to gather information before putting it to writing. They conduct lots of interviews with the people involved in the issue/subject they are writing to be sure of what they want to put to writing. They also go through public records or database to get more information.
Interaction:
During the cause of gathering information, Journalists will also interact with people, ask questions from people involved in their subject matter. Journalists must be able to adapt in communication and must be able to relate and work with others.
Legal Aspect:
Journalists must follow the law, especially regarding the confidentiality and privacy of the people they interview. Journalists must understand laws regarding libel and invasion of privacy. They must be careful in reporting criminal cases or allegations to avoid defamation and other accusations.
Ethics:
Journalists must strive to present an accurate, appropriate and well-balanced explanation of the story they cover. They have to conduct extensive research and talk to several sources that have knowledge about the subject. Journalists must also be honest with the people they interview, Journalist must have to tell or inform their source before the interview about what the article is all about and that they plan to quote them in the story.
Multi-skillful:
A Journalist must be multi-skilled: like the movie world, where the film director is multi-skilled; he/she must be able to do all aspect of Journalism. A Journalist also can multi-task, he/she should be able to work for different media houses and also master different languages.
Journalist as a Brand:
A Journalist must know his/her worth and quality, if the job market is uncertain or unpredicted, freelancing can be an option. A Journalist should be able to create off work content such as blogs, photo galleries, slideshows, video blogs e.t.c.
Connection:
Journalist must be connected and create connections with professionals which can also increase recognition, not only that, you got to learn from their experience and it allows Journalist to reach out to more sources and get help.
Journalist as a Producer:
To develop multimedia works on your own or to communicate with your team effectively programming, video, audio, designing and photography knowledge are demanded and these can be gotten online.
Journalist as Information Explorer:
Journalist should be archaeologist of information. They should be able to explore and dig deep into an information or researches. The web/net is also full of information for those who know how to use it.
A Journalist is also a moderator and an authenticator.
Journalism is the activity or profession of writing for newspapers or magazines or of broadcasting news on radio or television. Journalism is not only working with newspapers or magazines and the likes, it is the activity or the act of gathering, assessing, creating and presenting news and information.
A Journalist is also someone that does all these, he/she gathers, writes, distributes news, a good Journalist disseminates unique, original information. A Journalist might also be specialised on certain issues like; we have investigative journalism, yellow journalism and some others which we will be discussing in our subsequent post, so relax and keep your fingers crossed and watch out for our subsequent articles.
"By giving us the opinion of the uneducated, Journalism keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community" -Oscar Wilde.
"I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, Journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon" -Tom Stoppard.
"Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there"' -Jeff Mallet.
Lets talk about the figures and qualities of a good Journalist, every profession has its own qualities and features that the society look up to:
while doing some of my research, I stumbled on an article online "10 Qualities of a Good Journalist" by Rafael Olmeda.
Olmeda is an adjunct professor of writing at Florida International University and an assistant city editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He joined the staff of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as a general assignment reporter in 1999, before that he spent six years as a reporter for the New York Daily News, covering his hometown of the Bronx. He won 3rd place in the Florida press club's contest for crime reporting. He became an assistant city editor in July 2005.
What marvelled me about his article is that he related the qualities of a good Journalist with the qualities of a good person written in the bible….am not going to talk much about it but will say a little of it.
He said:
1. Blessed are the compassionate for they shall not forget they are dealing with people:
Even if you are not compassionate, you should try and show it especially those on the television. He made reference to Rebecca Aguilar's case, who he said had an interview with a man who defended his property and killed two intruders in the course. In course of their discussion, he told Rebecca that he is going to buy another short gun because he lost his other two to the police and Rebecca replied: "oh, I'm gonna catch up with you there." "I don't want to talk to you." "So don't tell where you are. I'm a Journalist, I'll see you at the gun shop."
She catches up with him in the parking lot and they had an interview. Olmeda did not go into details on the case but he said Rebecca got into trouble over the interview because in the video she aired, she did not appear compassionate: it did not reflect on her face.
2. Blessed are they who are outraged by injustice, for that outrage is the one bias tolerated in journalism:
Olmeda said that journalists should oppose abusive powers, misappropriation of funds, hypocrisy in public officials; those holding one position publicly while doing something else publicly or privately. Journalist should also oppose hypocrisy in Journalism: by exposing flaws in those you oppose while covering the same flaws in those you favour, it doesn't make sense, its really wrong.
3. Blessed are skeptical, for they shall verify what they are told:
A Journalist should always verify vividly whatever the information he/she got before broadcasting or publishing it: Olmeda said, it's a Journalist's duty to discover and uncover, to verify and to reveal. He said, it's no one's job to tell you the truth, no one is paid to say the truth. No one is going to be insulted for verifying an information. No one is going to say, "Don't you trust me?" and if they asked so, simply reply, "Yes, that's why I'm going to verify it. Journalists should also verify their sources…this is important.
4. Blessed are the well-sourced, for they shall never be without a story.
5. Blessed are they who know their rights and freedoms, for they shall not be intimidated:
Journalists are enjoined to know their rights, get to know the Federal Freedom of Information Act., the state public records laws, state opening meetings laws. Olmeda said: "When you denied information, the information is also denied to the public and if the public is entitled to an information same also it is to the Journalists" so if you know all your rights, you will never be intimidated.
Roles/Duties of Journalists
Journalists keep the public informed about events and issues and how they affect their lives. They search public records and other sources of information, they also interview expert sources. The roles/duties/responsibilities of a Journalist is quite enormous and they include:
Reporting:
Actually Journalists first have to gather information before putting it to writing. They conduct lots of interviews with the people involved in the issue/subject they are writing to be sure of what they want to put to writing. They also go through public records or database to get more information.
Interaction:
During the cause of gathering information, Journalists will also interact with people, ask questions from people involved in their subject matter. Journalists must be able to adapt in communication and must be able to relate and work with others.
Legal Aspect:
Journalists must follow the law, especially regarding the confidentiality and privacy of the people they interview. Journalists must understand laws regarding libel and invasion of privacy. They must be careful in reporting criminal cases or allegations to avoid defamation and other accusations.
Ethics:
Journalists must strive to present an accurate, appropriate and well-balanced explanation of the story they cover. They have to conduct extensive research and talk to several sources that have knowledge about the subject. Journalists must also be honest with the people they interview, Journalist must have to tell or inform their source before the interview about what the article is all about and that they plan to quote them in the story.
Multi-skillful:
A Journalist must be multi-skilled: like the movie world, where the film director is multi-skilled; he/she must be able to do all aspect of Journalism. A Journalist also can multi-task, he/she should be able to work for different media houses and also master different languages.
Journalist as a Brand:
A Journalist must know his/her worth and quality, if the job market is uncertain or unpredicted, freelancing can be an option. A Journalist should be able to create off work content such as blogs, photo galleries, slideshows, video blogs e.t.c.
Connection:
Journalist must be connected and create connections with professionals which can also increase recognition, not only that, you got to learn from their experience and it allows Journalist to reach out to more sources and get help.
Journalist as a Producer:
To develop multimedia works on your own or to communicate with your team effectively programming, video, audio, designing and photography knowledge are demanded and these can be gotten online.
Journalist as Information Explorer:
Journalist should be archaeologist of information. They should be able to explore and dig deep into an information or researches. The web/net is also full of information for those who know how to use it.
A Journalist is also a moderator and an authenticator.
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