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, broadcast and online 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.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
What is "Journalism"?
By Robert Niles
Journalism is a form of writing that tells people about things that really happened, but that they might not have known about already.
People who write journalism are called "journalists." They might work at newspapers, magazines, websites or for TV or radio stations.
The most important characteristic shared by good journalists is curiosity. Good journalists love to read and want to find out as much as they can about the world around them.
Journalism comes in several different forms:
I. News
A. Breaking news: Telling about an event as it happens.
B. Feature stories: A detailed look at something interesting that's not breaking news.
C. Enterprise or Investigative stories: Stories that uncover information that few people knew.
II. Opinion
A. Editorials: Unsigned articles that express a publication's opinion.
B. Columns: Signed articles that express the writer's reporting and his conclusions.
C. Reviews: Such as concert, restaurant or movie reviews.
Online, journalism can come in the forms listed above, as well as:
Blogs: Online diaries kept by individuals or small groups.
Discussion boards: Online question and answer pages where anyone can participate.
Wikis: Articles that any reader can add to or change.
The best journalism is easy to read, and just sounds like a nice, smart person telling you something interesting.
Reporting
How do you get the facts for your news story? By reporting!
There are three main ways to gather information for a news story or opinion piece:
Interviews: Talking with people who know something about the story you are reporting.
Observation: Watching and listening where news is taking place.
Documents: Reading stories, reports, public records and other printed material.
The people or documents you use when reporting a story are called your "sources." In your story, you always tell your readers what sources you've used. So you must remember to get the exact spelling of all your sources' names. You want everything in your story to be accurate, including the names of the sources you quote.
Often, a person's name is not enough information to identify them in a news story. Lots of people have the same name, after all. So you will also want to write down your sources' ages, their hometowns, their jobs and any other information about them that is relevant to the story.
Whenever you are interviewing someone, observing something happening or reading about something, you will want to write down the answers to the "Five Ws" about that source:
Who are they?
What were they doing?
Where were they doing it?
When they do it?
Why did they do it?
Many good reporters got their start by keeping a diary. Buy a notebook, and start jotting down anything interesting you hear, see or read each day. You might be surprised to discover how many good stories you encounter each week!
Writing
Here are the keys to writing good journalism:
Get the facts. All the facts you can.
Tell your readers where you got every bit of information you put in your story.
Be honest about what you do not know.
Don't try to write fancy. Keep it clear.
Start your story with the most important thing that happened in your story. This is called your "lead." It should summarize the whole story in one sentence.
From there, add details that explain or illustrate what's going on. You might need to start with some background or to "set the scene" with details of your observation. Again, write the story like you were telling it to a friend. Start with what's most important, then add background or details as needed.
When you write journalism, your paragraphs will be shorter than you are used to in classroom writing. Each time you introduce a new source, you will start a new paragraph. Each time you bring up a new point, you will start a new paragraph. Again, be sure that you tell the source for each bit of information you add to the story.
Whenever you quote someone's exact words, you will put them within quotation marks and provide "attribution" at the end of the quote. Here's an example:
"I think Miss Cherng's class is really great," ten-year-old McKinley student Hermione Granger said.
Commas go inside the closing quote mark when you are providing attribution.
Sometimes, you can "paraphrase" what a source says. That means that you do not use the source's exact words, but reword it to make it shorter, or easier to understand. You do not use quote marks around a paraphrase, but you still need to write who said it. Here's an example:
Even though the class was hard, students really liked it, McKinley fourth-grader Hermione Granger said.
Journalism is a form of writing that tells people about things that really happened, but that they might not have known about already.
People who write journalism are called "journalists." They might work at newspapers, magazines, websites or for TV or radio stations.
The most important characteristic shared by good journalists is curiosity. Good journalists love to read and want to find out as much as they can about the world around them.
Journalism comes in several different forms:
I. News
A. Breaking news: Telling about an event as it happens.
B. Feature stories: A detailed look at something interesting that's not breaking news.
C. Enterprise or Investigative stories: Stories that uncover information that few people knew.
II. Opinion
A. Editorials: Unsigned articles that express a publication's opinion.
B. Columns: Signed articles that express the writer's reporting and his conclusions.
C. Reviews: Such as concert, restaurant or movie reviews.
Online, journalism can come in the forms listed above, as well as:
Blogs: Online diaries kept by individuals or small groups.
Discussion boards: Online question and answer pages where anyone can participate.
Wikis: Articles that any reader can add to or change.
The best journalism is easy to read, and just sounds like a nice, smart person telling you something interesting.
Reporting
How do you get the facts for your news story? By reporting!
There are three main ways to gather information for a news story or opinion piece:
Interviews: Talking with people who know something about the story you are reporting.
Observation: Watching and listening where news is taking place.
Documents: Reading stories, reports, public records and other printed material.
The people or documents you use when reporting a story are called your "sources." In your story, you always tell your readers what sources you've used. So you must remember to get the exact spelling of all your sources' names. You want everything in your story to be accurate, including the names of the sources you quote.
Often, a person's name is not enough information to identify them in a news story. Lots of people have the same name, after all. So you will also want to write down your sources' ages, their hometowns, their jobs and any other information about them that is relevant to the story.
Whenever you are interviewing someone, observing something happening or reading about something, you will want to write down the answers to the "Five Ws" about that source:
Who are they?
What were they doing?
Where were they doing it?
When they do it?
Why did they do it?
Many good reporters got their start by keeping a diary. Buy a notebook, and start jotting down anything interesting you hear, see or read each day. You might be surprised to discover how many good stories you encounter each week!
Writing
Here are the keys to writing good journalism:
Get the facts. All the facts you can.
Tell your readers where you got every bit of information you put in your story.
Be honest about what you do not know.
Don't try to write fancy. Keep it clear.
Start your story with the most important thing that happened in your story. This is called your "lead." It should summarize the whole story in one sentence.
From there, add details that explain or illustrate what's going on. You might need to start with some background or to "set the scene" with details of your observation. Again, write the story like you were telling it to a friend. Start with what's most important, then add background or details as needed.
When you write journalism, your paragraphs will be shorter than you are used to in classroom writing. Each time you introduce a new source, you will start a new paragraph. Each time you bring up a new point, you will start a new paragraph. Again, be sure that you tell the source for each bit of information you add to the story.
Whenever you quote someone's exact words, you will put them within quotation marks and provide "attribution" at the end of the quote. Here's an example:
"I think Miss Cherng's class is really great," ten-year-old McKinley student Hermione Granger said.
Commas go inside the closing quote mark when you are providing attribution.
Sometimes, you can "paraphrase" what a source says. That means that you do not use the source's exact words, but reword it to make it shorter, or easier to understand. You do not use quote marks around a paraphrase, but you still need to write who said it. Here's an example:
Even though the class was hard, students really liked it, McKinley fourth-grader Hermione Granger said.
What is Journalism?
Journalism is the profession of writing or communicating, formally employed by publications and broadcasters, for the benefit of a particular community of people. The writer or journalist is expected to use facts to describe events, ideas, or issues that are relevant to the public. Journalists (also known as news analysts, reporters, and correspondents) gather information, and broadcast it so we remain informed about local, state, national, and international events. They can also present their points of view on current issues and report on the actions of the government, public officials, corporate executives, interest groups, media houses, and those who hold social power or authority.
In journalism, a story refers to a single article, news item or feature. A story is usually relevant to a single event, issue, theme, or profile of a person. Stories are usually inspired through news pegs (the central premise of the story). Correspondents report on news occurring in the main, locally, from their own country, or from foreign cities where they are stationed.
Today, most reporters file information or write their stories electronically from remote locations. In many cases, breaking stories are written by random staff members, through information collected and submitted by other reporters who are out on the field gathering information for an event that has just occurred and needs to be broadcast instantly. Radio and television reporters often compose stories and report "live" from the scene. Some journalists also interpret the news or offer opinions and analysis to readers, viewers, or listeners. In this role, they are called commentators or columnists.
In journalism, a story refers to a single article, news item or feature. A story is usually relevant to a single event, issue, theme, or profile of a person. Stories are usually inspired through news pegs (the central premise of the story). Correspondents report on news occurring in the main, locally, from their own country, or from foreign cities where they are stationed.
Today, most reporters file information or write their stories electronically from remote locations. In many cases, breaking stories are written by random staff members, through information collected and submitted by other reporters who are out on the field gathering information for an event that has just occurred and needs to be broadcast instantly. Radio and television reporters often compose stories and report "live" from the scene. Some journalists also interpret the news or offer opinions and analysis to readers, viewers, or listeners. In this role, they are called commentators or columnists.
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