Freelance Writing: Journalism

What is journalism?

From Wikipedia:

Journalism is the discipline of gathering, writing and reporting news, and broadly it includes the process of editing and presenting the news articles.

The word journalism is taken from the French journal which in turn comes from the Latin diurnal or daily; The Acta Diurna, a handwritten bulletin, was put up daily in the Forum, the main public square in ancient Rome, and was the world's first newspaper.

News-oriented journalism was described by former Washington Post editor, Phil Graham, as "a first rough draft of history", because journalists often record important historical events as they are happening, but at the same time, they must produce their news articles on short deadlines.

Gyan Pathak suggests five categories of journalism in his book Forms of Journalism: An Internal and External History:

1. Information Journalism
2. Story form of Journalism
3. Mixed form of Journalism
4. Performance Journalism
5. Interactive Journalism.

American philosopher George Herbert Mead had previously suggested in his article "The Nature of Aesthetic Experience" published in International Journal of Ethics, 36, (July 1926) that there were only two models of journalism:

1. Information Journalism
2. Story Form of Journalism.

Within these broad categories (even if we consider there to be five), there are many sub-categories of journalism, which use many different forms of media.

What skills does a journalist need?

"Practicing journalists become experts in a range of skills such as researching information, interviewing, organizing, drafting and revising, writing for specific audiences, and judging the quality of current publications. Effective journalistic writing often has criteria different from other kinds of writing: it must be clear yet sophisticated, artful yet free of obvious embellishment. It must establish a voice of its own, yet be a window to credible facts. In addition, formatting skills require practice." (The University of Minnesota's Center for Writing)

A journalist doesn't just write. In fact journalists actively seek out and tell news stories, while they are happening. They interview people, research backgrounds and search out supporting details. They write a piece, proofread and edit it, consider the publishing layout and submit it all within an incredibly short time ... there are no extensions to deadlines in journalism!

As a broadcast journalist, for example, the skills needed include:

* following story 'leads', or generating story ideas

* researching stories, using sources like the internet, archives and databases

* visiting locations and deciding on the best way of presenting a story

* writing scripts or website content

* preparing interview questions and conducting live and pre-recorded interviews

* presenting in TV or radio studios or on location, and recording voiceovers for recorded material
* asking questions at briefings and press conferences

* directing a small camera/sound crew, or possibly operating recording equipment yourself

* editing stories to fit exact timings

* deciding on the best running order for bulletins

* making any necessary changes to bulletins as new stories break.


What is journalistic writing?

John Nery's NewsStand blog is well worth checking out for some great journalism insight. Here, he explains what distinguishes journalistic writing:

Journalism----news reporting in particular----involves the use of a special language.

“News English” is not ordinary English, although of course it uses the same grammar, the same diction. “News English” is spare, pared down, frequently direct, even formulaic, and with a syntax all its own.

Gospel.com have some useful advice about journalistic writing online.

And the Riley Guide has a fanstastic collection of useful resources for writing, boadcasting and journalism.


Why is journalism important?

The ASNE (American Society of Newspaper Editors) awards recognise "the unique ability of newspaper journalists to inform, to provide clarity and context, to entertain, to give voice to the voiceless and to right injustices by exposing wrongdoing."

Now that makes journalism attractive to me. The truth is I can't really see myself as 'a journalist.' But as a fledgling writer, I am enjoying experimenting with all sorts of writing. So I'm really looking forward to the open media day and to an attempt at writing a journalistic piece.

:o)