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JOURNALISM AS CAREER
Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting news regarding current events, trends, issues and people. Those who practice journalism are known as journalists.
News-oriented journalism is sometimes described as the "first rough draft of history" (attributed to Phil Graham), because journalists often record important events, producing news articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with their stories, news media organizations usually edit and proofread their reports prior to publication, adhering to each organization's standards of accuracy, quality and style. Many news organizations claim proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions accountable to the public, while media critics have raised.
REPORTING
Journalism has as its main activity the reporting of events — stating who, what, when, where, why and how, and explaining the significance and effect of events or trends. Journalism exists in a number of media: newspapers, television, radio, magazines and, most recently, the World Wide Web through the Internet.
The subject matter of journalism can be anything and everything, and journalists report and write on a wide variety of subjects: politics on the international, national, provincial and local levels, economics and business on the same four levels, health and medicine, education, sports, hobbies and recreation, lifestyles, clothing, food, pets, sex and relationships.... Journalists can report for general interest news outlets like newspapers, news magazines and broadcast sources; general circulation specialty publications like trade and hobby magazines, or for news publications and outlets with a select group of subscribers.
Journalists are usually expected and required to go out to the scene of a story to gather information for their reports, and often may compose their reports in the field. They also use the telephone, the computer and the internet to gather information. However, more often those reports are written, and are almost always edited, in the newsroom, the office space where journalists and editors work together to prepare news content.
Journalists, especially if they cover a specific subject or area (a "beat") are expected to cultivate sources, people in the subject or area, that they can communicate with, either to explain the details of a story, or to provide leads to other subjects of stories yet to be reported. They are also expected to develop their investigative skills to better research and report stories.
BROAD JOURNALISM
For more information about radio and television journalism, see News broadcasting Radio journalists must gather facts and present them fairly and accurately, but also must find and record relevant and interesting sounds to add to their reports, both interviews with people involved in the story and backround sounds tha help characterize the story. Radio reporters may also write the introduction to the story read by a radio news anchor, and may also answers questions live from the anchor.
Television journalists rely on visual information to illustrate and characterize their reporting, including on-camera interviews with people involved in the story, shots of the scene where the story took place, and graphics usually produced at the station to help frame the story. Like radio repoters, television reporters also may write the introductory script that a television news anchor would read to set up their story. Both radio and television journalists usually do not have as much "space" to present information in their reports as print journalists.
PROFESSIONAL AND ETHICAL STANDARDS
Journalists are expected to follow a stringent code of journalistic conduct that requires them to, among other things:
Use original sources of information, including interviews with people directly involved in a story, original documents and other direct sources of information, whenever possible, and cite the sources of this information in reports; For more information on using sources, see Journalism sourcing. Fully attribute information gathered from other published sources, should original sources not be available (to not do so is considered plagiarism; some newspapers also note when an article uses information from previous reports); Use multiple original sources of information, especially if the subject of the report is controversial; Check every fact reported; Find and report every side of a story possible; Report without bias, illustrating many aspects of a conflict rather than siding with one; Approach researching and reporting a story with a balance between openmindedness and skepticism. Use careful judgment when organizing and reporting information. Be careful about granting confidentiality to sources (news organizations usually have specific rules that journalists must following concerning grants of confidentiality); Decline gifts or favors from any subject of a report, and avoid even the appearance of being influenced; Abstain from reporting or otherwise participating in the research and writing about a subject in which the journalist has a personal stake or bias that cannot be set aside. Such a code of conduct can, in the real world, be difficult to uphold consistently. Journalists who believe they are being fair or objective may give biased accounts -- by reporting selectively, trusting too much to anecdote, giving a partial explanation of actions, or engaging in one-sided gotcha journalism. (See Media bias.) Even in routine reporting, bias can creep into a story through a reporter's choice of facts to summarize, or through failure to check enough sources, hear and report dissenting voices, or seek fresh perspectives.
As much as reporters try to set aside their prejudices, they may simply be unaware of them. Young reporters may be blind to issues affecting the elderly. A 20-year veteran of the "police beat" may be deaf to rumors of departmental corruption. Publications marketed to affluent suburbanites may ignore urban problems. And, of course, naive or unwary reporters and editors alike may fall prey to public relations, propaganda or disinformation.
News organizations provide editors, producers or news directors whose job is to check reporters' work at various stages. But editors can get tired, lazy, complacent or biased. An editor may be blind to a favorite reporter's omissions, prejudices or fabrications. (See Jayson Blair.) Provincial editors also may be ill-equipped to weigh the perspective (or check the facts of) a correspondent reporting from a distant city or foreign country. (See News management.)
A news organization's budget inevitably reflects decision-making about what news to cover, for what audience, and in what depth. Those decisions may reflect conscious or unconscious bias. When budgets are cut, editors may sacrifice reporters in distant news bureaus, reduce the number of staff assigned to low-income areas, or wipe entire communities from the publication's zone of interest.
Publishers, owners and other corporate executives, especially advertising sales executives, can try to use their powers over journalists to influence how news is reported and published. Journalists usually rely on top management to create and maintain a "firewall" between the news and other departments in a news organization to prevent undue influence on the news department. One journalism magazine, Columbia Journalism Review, has made it a practice to reveal examples of executives who try to influence news coverage, of executives who do not abuse their powers over journalists, and of journalists who resist such pressures.
Investigative reporting, in which journalists investigate and expose unethical, immoral and illegal behavior by individuals, businesses and government agencies, can be expensive — requiring months of attention, long-distance travel, computers to analyze public-record databases, or use of the company's legal staff to secure documents under freedom of information laws. Because of its inherently confrontational nature, this kind of reporting is often the first to suffer from budget cutbacks or interference from outside the news department
IS JOURNALISM FOR YOU?
WHAT IS JOURNALISM?
Journalism is the timely reporting of events at the local, provincial, national and international levels. Reporting involves the gathering of information through interviewing and research, the results of which are turned into a fair and balanced story for publication or for television or radio broadcast.
Journalism is not just
fact-finding media analysis opinion writing, or commentary although all of those aspects can play a part at times.
What do beginning journalists do?
Journalists who are starting their careers normally do not do commentary or opinion pieces. Rather, they cover hard news stories such as community news, courts, crime and speeches by notable people. In broadcast, beginning journalists also may do pre-interviews and research for senior journalists.
An entry-level reporter often does "general assignment" stories rather than stories for a specific beat. General assignment stories are given out to reporters by the city desk or assignment editor.
Is journalism for you?
Asking yourself the questions below will help you determine whether journalism is a good career choice for you.
Do you regularly read at least one newspaper or consult an online equivalent, such as GlobeandMail.com? Do you regularly watch or listen to television or radio newscasts? Is it important to you to keep up with current events? Are you interested in other people’s lives? Are you able to talk to a wide variety of people? Do you work well to deadlines? Are you persistent and willing to dig for information? Have you mastered basic writing skills? (see below for expectations) If you answered NO to even one of the above questions, you may want to think again about whether journalism is a good match for your interests and abilities.
What does the Journalism Program at Western cover?
The Master of Arts in Journalism is a well-rounded, professional program that prepares graduates for entry-level positions in newsrooms. The program stresses a balance of academic and practical courses and offers a solid grounding in the basic tools and practices of print and broadcast journalism. The curriculum of the Master of Arts in Journalism program is not focused on producing graduates to work in public relations or communications positions.
Expectation of writing ability in the journalism program
It is expected that students in the MA in Journalism program have mastered basic writing skills, including grammar, syntax, and the ability to conceptualize and articulate ideas in writing. A writing competency assignment will be given at the beginning of the summer term and students with writing difficulties will be identified. Students who do not meet the expectation of writing ability will be required to seek remedial help external to the program at their own expense, if necessary. A follow-up writing competency assignment will be given towards the end of the summer term