Role of Journalism assignment paper 15

  Name : Rathod Nirali j.

  Emil id : niralijrathod@gmail.com

 Paper: 15“Mass communication and Media           studies”

 Topic: Role of Journalism

Introduction :

In simple word we can say that journalism means to provide news, to write reports and articles for newspaper, magazines and that kind of simple stuff but is  a general definition in simple sense and words.

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issue and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion.

Journalism is the activity of gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting news and information. It is also the product of these activities.

Journalism can be distinguished from other activities and products by certain identifiable characteristics and practices. These elements not only separate journalism from other forms of communication, they are what make it indispensable to democratic societies. History reveals that the more democratic a society, the more news and information it tends to have.

“The purpose of journalism,” write Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel in The Elements of Journalism, “is not defined by technology, nor by journalists or the techniques they employ.” Rather, “the principles and purpose of journalism are defined by something more basic: the function news plays in the lives of people.”

News is that part of communication that keeps us informed of the changing events, issues, and characters in the world outside. Though it may be interesting or even entertaining, the foremost value of news is as a utility to empower the informed.

The purpose of journalism is thus to provide citizens with the information they need to make the best possible decisions about their lives, their communities, their societies, and their governments.‘Traditional media - like newspapers, radio or TV – are on a scary roller-coaster ride. They are struggling with a loss of audience, revenue and attention. Journalists are facing, like many other professions and industries, a digitalization of their business.

Journalists are also facing an era of active citizens and are overstrained. They not only need to understand the new public and their newly adopted behavior.

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    Face book

Ø Twitter

Ø Delicious

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Ø Stumble Upon

Ø Add to favorites

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The most important function of journalism is to convey information.

 Journalism also acts as a two-way channel between the public and policymakers.

On the one hand, journalism conveys information to the citizens about what is happening in society. On the other hand, journalism lets the policymakers know what kinds of effects their previous decisions have had and what kinds of decisions have been made elsewhere. Journalism also lets the policymakers

know what the public expects of them.

In addition to conveying information, good journalism also interprets the world. Journalism explains things and phenomena in an easy and accessible way, describes the cause-effect-relationships of events and provides background information on issues and decisions.

Journalism brings the events close to people’s everyday lives and shows

what kind of an impact they have on a regular citizen’s life.

Journalism’s functions also include the creation of a sense of solidarity in society, which can happen for example through large newsworthy events. Also, by establishing solidarity, journalism also aims to maintain peace in society.

Nowadays people’s consumption of media is not consistent. Instead, people tend to collect information from different sources. That is why ever larger news events are needed to affect people collectively. Assassinations, wars and acts of terrorism feel like turning points in history largely because of their wide news coverage.

    Media has the power both to blow things out of proportion and to sweep them under the rug. Widely covered events become a part of history, and the audience following the events feel that they are experiencing a historical event.

Journalism also tries to whet people’s appetite for learning new things. Journalism entertains, evokes emotion and experiences. It offers new perspectives and stories which people can relate to.

   The profession of journalism is a public and social occupation. Journalists as professionals both support and sustain the credibility of the decision-making system and maintain its functions. The role of a journalist and their position in relation to the use of social power is, however, a more complicated question.

          The most important values of a journalist are impartiality, independence of commercial and political interests and responsibility.

Thus, even if a journalist handles social issues, s/he must not strive to be a political force. A reporter can present pointed opinions, but it has to be done separately from news work. Otherwise the credibility of the reporter as an independent conveyor of information is undermined and the audience can easily begin to respond to everything that the journalist in question does as biased. as contributors, but they also need to understand the audiences' desire to collaborate with journalists.

One solution of how this collaboration could look like is Networked Journalism, a concept where professionals and amateurs are working together to get the real story, linking to each other across brands and old boundaries to share facts, questions, answers, ideas, and perspectives.

Types of journalism:

Journalism helps to explain the events that impact our lives and is developed in a number of forms and styles uses different techniques and writes for different purposes and audiences. So Journalism can be categorized into several types as enlisted below.

Now let’s elucidate these types in detail.

  Advocacy Journalism    :

Advocacy journalism deals with writing to advocate particular viewpoints or influence the opinions of the audience. It also describes the use of journalism techniques to promote a specific political or social cause. Under this branch, journalists are openly biased towards a particular entity while reporting events or happenings. The information they convey is mostly one sided and tends to defend the specific entity. Most advocacy journalists believe that in their profession, one is very likely to become partial. As a constant follower of any story, it is difficult to stay detached. You eventually will develop an opinion! So instead of trying to be indifferent, one might as well report from his point of view.

  Broadcast Journalism :

Journalism which is the field of news and journals which are broadcast or in other words we can say that it is published by electrical methods, instead of the older methods such as printed newspapers and posters. Radio and television broadcasts are designed to get the news out to a wide variety of people in language that is much less formal than traditional print media.

 Investigative journalism:

Investigative journalism can be defined a type of journalism that tries to discover information of public interest that someone is trying to hide. it also includes serious crimes, political corruption or corporate wrongdoing. an investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report.

 Tabloid Journalism:

It is very much important type of journalism. Tabloid journalism is a newspaper of small format giving the news is condensed form, usually with illustrated often sensational material. so it puts more stress on crime stories, astrology, gossip columns about the personal lives of celebrities and sports stars and junk food news. And it is this sense of the word that led to some entertainment news programs to be called tabloid television.

 Yellow Journalism:

It is one of the most significant types of journalism which highlights little or no legitimate well researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Yellow journalism is also known as sensationalism and it is writing which emphasizes exaggerated claims or rumors.

Moreover, the term yellow journalism is used today as a pejorative to decry any journalism that treats news in an unprofessional or unethical fashion and Campbell (2001) defines yellow press newspapers as having daily multicolumn front page headlines covering a variety of topics, such as sports and scandal, using bold layouts, heavy reliance or unnamed sources, and unabashed self promotions. And the term was extensively used to describe certain major New York City newspapers about 1900 as they battled for circulation.

Conclusion :

                          

Journalism is the production and distribution report on events. The world journalism applies to the occupation, as well as citizen journalists who gather and publish information. Journalistic media include print, television, radio, internet, and in the past newsreels.

This monograph will explore the empirical and theoretical ramifications of journalism as social media, specifically “ Journalism as process.”