journalist chapter01

7/28/2019 Journalist Chapter01

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Chapter 1Where is journalism headed?


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Does journalism have a future in the age ofuser-generated content?

Is journalism still essential to democracy?

What kind of journalist do you want to be?


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User-generated content:

Began with the Indymedia movement (1999):

A move away from mainstream media towardsindependent media.

Citizen journalism and social media followed:

Do-it-yourself journalism for example, YouTube,blogs and Twitter.

Todays news is fast, lean, available on themove and comes from a variety of sources.


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Has the boundary between journalist andaudience completely broken down?

If it has, does it matter?

What does it mean for democracy?

Is citizen journalism in the public interest?

Do we still need trained journalists?


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Why we need trained journalists: The present system is not perfect, but its better

than information chaos and anarchy.

Skilled journalists find and deliver the news withoutfanfare or embellishment.

The watchdog role of news media is stillimportant.


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The citizen journalism movement has had some

negative outcomes: Several freelance reporters recently died in Libya.

New York Timesphotographer Michael Kamberblogged that he was shocked by the hundreds ofinexperienced photographers and journalistschasing bullets and bombs in Misrata and otherliberated cities.

He wrote that the packs of green photographerswere not taking war seriously (Photographing

conflict for the first time, nytimes.com blog, 25


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Trained journalists:

Can write grammatically and with an easy flow

Know what is interesting to editors and publishers

Know how to find interesting material

Can put it together in a way that that is easilyunderstood.


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The news media is sometimes known as the fourthestate.

In British history, the other estates were the LordsSpiritual (priesthood), the Lords Temporal(aristocracy) and the House of Commons(commoners).

Today, the other estates can be seen as theExecutive, Legislature and Judiciary.

The fourth estate acts as a watchdog to holdthose in the other estates accountable for their

actions.


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The fourth estate is under threat:

News production is no longer an independententerprise.

A handful of multinational companies control mostnews, entertainment and information outlets.

A 2008 study of British news industry showed thatmore than 80% of news items in the daily presswere sourced from press releases and officialsources.

But journalism still provides a watchdog


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Two Queensland lawyers investigated aserious matter that had been raised by the

Weekend Independent.

They summed up the case for journalism veryeffectively.

They pointed out that:

Journalists face the difficult task of identifyingwrongdoing, often without legal experience or

assistance.


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They then have to express complex issues in waysthatcan be understood by everyday people.

They cant publish detailed reports their reportsneedto be brief enough to hold peoples attention.

They must be driven to some extent by the publicsdesire for sensationalism, but also by the need tomaintain public interest.

The lawyers said: When one considers all of theconstraints under which journalists operate, one

must


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All journalists should:

Hold power to account, comfort the afflicted andafflict the too-comfortable

Pay attention to detail

Understand and adhere to an ethical code

Take an interest in history and the politics ofjournalism.


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There are print, radio and television

journalists (the traditional platforms) andonline journalists.

These days, journalists are likely to have to

work across more than one platform.

You could be a generalist or specialistjournalist.

Throughout your career, you could move


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Generalist reporters:

Cover a wide range of topics

Go to the scene of a story at the drop of a hat.

Specialist reporters (rounds or beatreporters):

Cover a specific subject area sport, education,business, etc.

Have an in-depth knowledge of their round

Keep a very close eye on what has happened, ishappening and is going to happen in their round.


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Golden rules for all journalists:

Know what you dont know.

Know how to find out about what you dont know.

Dont be afraid to ask the obvious questions


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Amy Corderoy, SydneyMorning Herald:

You must learn to navigatethe murky and oftencomplicated world of conflictof interest and

pharmaceutical influence.Health is one round thatinvolves more bureaucratsand government bodies than

many others


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Clint Wheeldon, ABC Sport,Perth:

[To] cover sport, you will beexpected to know a massiveamount of detail about awide range of sports. Youll

only be able to do this ifyou really, really,desperately want to.


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Andrew Moraitis, Melbourne-based freelance critic and

reviewer:In film criticism, anunderstanding of film languageand narrative is vital: if one

cannot tell the differencebetween a dolly and a pan shotor between a satire and a farce,how can he or she talk

intelligently about filmmakerschoices?


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You need to be a greatstoryteller. Fabulous

communication skills arehugely important, and sois the ability to think onyour toes. The world of

entertainment ... moves atlightning speed, and youcant afford to be twopaces behind.


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Business journalists spendall their days speaking to

informed, interesting andoften very powerful people.That can be fun and scary,but its rarely boring.


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Curiosity, tenacity and confidence

The ability to recognise and pitch a good news

story

The ability to uncover human-interest stories

The ability to persuade people to talk

Good interviewing skills

Good note-taking skills

A willingness to do shiftwork


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A flair for writing, including good grammarand spelling

Punctuality and the ability to work underpressure

Trustworthiness, honesty and loyalty The ability to master new technology

A strong sense of right and wrong

Empathy


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Objectivity:

There is debate over whether journalism should orshould not be objective.

Old-school journalists say journalism is anobjective

science.

Others say journalists attitudes towards the worldarebound to affect their work.


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George Orwell provided four motives that couldaffect journalists objectivity:

Sheer egoism Aesthetic egoism

Historical impulse

Political purpose.

There is controversy over whether politicalpurpose strays too far from objectivity.

Does the desire to push the world in a certaindirection have a role to play in journalism?

journalist chapter01

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