A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism.

Roles

Journalists can be broadcast, print, advertising, and public relations personnel, and, depending on the form of journalism, the term ''journalist'' may also include various categories of individuals as per the roles they play in the process. This includes reporters,

correspondents A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

citizen journalists Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

, editors, editorial-writers,

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...

s, and visual journalists, such as

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

s (journalists who use the medium of photography). A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes and reports on information in order to present using

sources Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

. This may entail conducting interviews, information-gathering and/or writing articles. Reporters may split their time between working in a

newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editors, and producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visual text editor, Desk Head, s ...

, or from home, and going out to witness events or interviewing people. Reporters may be assigned a specific

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

or area of coverage. Matthew C. Nisbet, who has written on

science communication Science communication is the practice of informing, educating, raising awareness of science-related topics, and increasing the sense of wonder about scientific discoveries and arguments. Science communicators and audiences are ambiguously def ...

, has defined a "knowledge journalist" as a public intellectual who, like Walter Lippmann, David Brooks, Fareed Zakaria, Naomi Klein,

Michael Pollan Michael Kevin Pollan (; born February 6, 1955) is an American author and journalist, who is currently Professor of the Practice Non-Fiction and the first Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer at Harvard University. Concurrently, he is the Knight Professo ...

Thomas Friedman Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for '' The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global ...

, and

Andrew Revkin Andrew C. Revkin is an American science and environmental journalist, author and educator. He has written on a wide range of subjects including destruction of the Amazon rain forest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, sustainable development, climate chan ...

, sees their role as researching complicated issues of fact or science which most laymen would not have the time or access to information to research themselves, then communicating an accurate and understandable version to the public as a teacher and policy advisor.

In his best-known books, ''Public Opinion'' (1922) and ''The Phantom Public'' (1925), Lippmann argued that most individuals lacked the capacity, time, and motivation to follow and analyze news of the many complex policy questions that troubled society. Nor did they often directly experience most social problems, or have direct access to expert insights. These limitations were made worse by a news media that tended to over-simplify issues and to reinforce
stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
, partisan viewpoints, and
prejudices Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
. As a consequence, Lippmann believed that the public needed journalists like himself who could serve as expert analysts, guiding "citizens to a deeper understanding of what was really important".

In 2018, the United States Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook reported that employment for the category, "reporters, correspondents and broadcast news analysts," will decline 9 percent between 2016 and 2026.

Journalists today

A worldwide sample of 27,500 journalists in 67 countries in 2012-2016 produced the following profile: ::57 percent male; :: mean age of 38 ::mean years of experience, 13 ::college degree, 56 percent; graduate degree, 29 percent ::61 percent specialized in journalism/communications at college ::62 percent identified as generalists and 23 percent as hard-news beat journalists ::47 percent were members of a professional association ::80 percent worked full-time ::50 percent worked in print, 23 percent in television, 17 percent in radio, and 16 percent online.

Journalistic freedom

Journalists sometimes expose themselves to danger, particularly when reporting in areas of

armed conflict War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

or in states that do not respect the freedom of the press. Organizations such as the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journal ...

and Reporters Without Borders publish reports on press freedom and advocate for journalistic freedom. As of November 2011, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports that 887 journalists have been killed worldwide since 1992 by murder (71%),

crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

combat Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

(17%), or on dangerous assignment (11%). The "ten deadliest countries" for journalists since 1992 have been Iraq (230 deaths), Philippines (109),

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

(77), Colombia (76), Mexico (69),

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

(61), Pakistan (59), India (49), Somalia (45), Brazil (31) and Sri Lanka (30). The Committee to Protect Journalists also reports that as of 1 December 2010, 145 journalists were jailed worldwide for journalistic activities. Current numbers are even higher. The ten countries with the largest number of currently-imprisoned journalists are Turkey (95), China (34), Iran (34), Eritrea (17),

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(13), Uzbekistan (6), Vietnam (5), Cuba (4), Ethiopia (4), and Sudan (3). Apart from physical harm, journalists are harmed psychologically. This applies especially to war reporters, but their editorial offices at home often do not know how to deal appropriately with the reporters they expose to danger. Hence, a systematic and sustainable way of psychological support for traumatized journalists is strongly needed. However, only little and fragmented support programs exist so far.

Journalist and source relationship

The relationship between a professional journalist and a source can be rather complex, and a source can sometimes have an effect on an article written by the journalist. The article 'A Compromised Fourth Estate' uses Herbert Gans' metaphor to capture their relationship. He uses a dance metaphor, "The Tango," to illustrate the co-operative nature of their interactions inasmuch as "It takes two to tango". Herbert suggests that the source often leads, but journalists commonly object to this notion for two reasons: # It signals source supremacy in news making. # It offends journalists' professional culture, which emphasizes independence and editorial autonomy. The dance metaphor goes on to state:

A relationship with sources that is ''too cozy'' is potentially compromising of journalists' integrity and risks becoming collusive. Journalists have typically favored a more robust, conflict model, based on a crucial assumption that if the media are to function as watchdogs of powerful economic and political interests, journalists must establish their independence of sources or risk the fourth estate being driven by the fifth estate of public relations.

The worst year on record for journalists

According to Reporters Without Borders' annual report, 2018 was the worst year on record for deadly violence and abuse toward journalists; there was a 15 percent increase in such killings since 2017, with 80 killed, 348 imprisoned and 60 held hostage. Yaser Murtaja was shot by an Israeli army sniper. Rubén Pat was gunned down outside a beach bar in Mexico. Mexico was described by Reporters Without Borders as "one of world's deadliest countries for the media"; 90% of attacks on journalists in the country reportedly go unsolved. Bulgarian Viktoria Marinova was beaten, raped and strangled. Saudi Arabian dissident Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul.

Gallery

File:Pn-telekanal-1998-staff.jpg, A program director sets the task for TV journalists, 1998. File:RFA reporter Helmand.jpg, A reporter interviews a man in

Helmand Province Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

, Afghanistan, 2009. File:Cosplayers at Comicdom 2012 in Athens, Greece grant interviews to the MTV television channel 21.JPG, Journalist interviews a

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, a ...

er, 2012. File:InterviewAT.jpg, A reporter interviewing

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as Fo ...

when he was Mayor of London, 2014 File:A Mogadishu offiicial tastes the water at a new well donated by the African Union Mission in Somalia in front of local journalists in the country's capital on June 6. AMISOM Photo - Tobin Jones (14328499146).jpg, Official tastes the water of a new well in front of journalists in

Mogadishu, Somalia Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

, 2014. File:Landes wla bfkuu denkmayr 0192 (35381936821).jpg, Cameraman and journalist who interviews a person in Austria

References

Bibliography

* Deuze, Mark. "What is journalism? Professional identity and ideology of journalists reconsidered." ''Journalism'' 6.4 (2005): 442-46
online
* Hanitzsch, Thomas, et al. eds. ''Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures around the Globe'' (1979
excerpt of the book
als
online review
* Hicks, Wynford, et al. ''Writing for journalists'' (Routledge, 2016) short textbook
excerpt
* Keeble, Richard. ''Ethics for journalists'' (Routledge, 2008). * Mellado, Claudia, et al. "Investigating the gap between newspaper journalists' role conceptions and role performance in nine European, Asian, and Latin American countries." ''International Journal of Press/Politics'' (2020): 194016122091010
online
* Patterson, Thomas E., and Wolfgang Donsbagh. "News decisions: Journalists as partisan actors." ''Political communication'' 13.4 (1996): 455–468
online
* Randall, David
''The Universal Journalist.''
(

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Originally, it was the publishing arm of the International Socialists (today known as the Socialist Workers Party), until it changed hands and was replaced ...

, 2000).
OCLC 43481682
* Shoemaker, Pamela J., Tim P. Vos, and Stephen D. Reese. "Journalists as gatekeepers." in ''The handbook of journalism studies'' 73 (2009
online
. * Stone, Melville Elijah.
''Fifty Years a Journalist.''
New York:

Doubleday, Page and Company Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897 and was the largest in the United States by 1947. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and distributed th ...

(1921). * Wettstein, Martin, et al. "News media as gatekeepers, critics, and initiators of populist communication: How journalists in ten countries deal with the populist challenge." ''International Journal of Press/Politics'' 23.4 (2018): 476-49
online

External links

*
Society of Professional Journalists
{{Authority control
Journalist killed as minibus hit by bomb in Kabul
* Broadcasting occupations Journalism occupations Mass media occupations Television terminology