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Archive for the ‘Jurnalistik’ Category

A journalist is:

· someone who is curious about new things and who has a wide range of interests.

· someone who can view various sides of a situation and present the facts fairly.

· someone who understands other people, and knows what they care about.

· someone who can take complicated ideas and facts and write about them clearly.

· someone who can sift through many facts and present only the important ones.

· someone who wants to explain a new fact, a new issue, or a new idea to other people.

From : The Young Journalist’s Book: How to Write and Produce Your Own Newspaper by Nancy Bentley

What a Journalist Does

Journalism is, in most respects, the backbone of the media industry. Therefore many media jobs require some aspect of journalism. The type of writing a journalist does depends largely on the subject they cover. Another thing which affects a journalist’s job is the outlet they produce news for: TV, the Internet, a newspaper, etc.

That being said, a “traditional” journalist reports the news. What does that mean? Well it can mean various things. The standard image of a journalist, and one often portrayed in movies, is of someone working a beat for a newspaper and finding stories. Which begs the question: What is a beat?

Working a Beat Read the rest of this entry »

According to The Elements of Journalism, a book by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, there are nine elements of journalism [1]. In order for a journalist to fulfill their duty of providing the people with the information they need to be free and self-governing. They must follow these guidelines:

1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
2. Its first loyalty is to the citizens.
3. Its essence is discipline of verification.
4. Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
5. It must serve as an independent monitor of power.
6. It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
7. It must strive to make the significant interesting, and relevant.
8. It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
9. Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.

In the April 2007 edition of the book [2], they have added one additional element, the rights and responsibilities of citizens to make it a total of ten elements of journalism.

Source: Wikipedia

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? Read the rest of this entry »