{"id":530,"date":"2017-01-31T15:10:19","date_gmt":"2017-01-31T23:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?p=530"},"modified":"2017-06-13T11:38:16","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T18:38:16","slug":"what-is-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Journalism?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may have heard, I\u2019m writing a book. One of the writers that agreed to contribute said that his specialty was journalism \u2013 the problem is that he didn\u2019t answer my questions with information I would think of as being from a journalist. So, I thought maybe I wasn\u2019t defining the word properly. So, I went to my dear friend Dictionary.com<\/a><\/span>. (It\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve done a \u201cdefine the word\u201d blog!)<\/p>\n

To be honest, I wasn\u2019t entirely pleased with the results:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business.<\/li>\n
  2. a course of study preparing students for careers in reporting, writing, and editing for newspapers and magazines.<\/li>\n
  3. writing that reflects superficial thought and research, a popular slant, and hurried composition, conceived of as exemplifying topical newspaper or popular magazine writing as distinguished from scholarly writing:
    \nHe calls himself a historian, but his books are mere journalism.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Scrolling down the page some, I came across the \u201cBritish Dictionary\u201d section. Not much different, definitely more succinct:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. the profession or practice of reporting about, photographing, or editing news stories for one of the mass media<\/li>\n
    2. newspapers and magazines collectively; the press<\/li>\n
    3. the material published in a newspaper, magazine, etc:
      \nthis is badly written journalism<\/em><\/li>\n
    4. news reports presented factually without analysis<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      OK, so why was I unhappy with the answers?<\/p>\n

      \"JournalismThe lack of respect.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      I\u2019m used to sterile definitions, but the idea that journalism is superficial and without analysis is astounding to me! And my astonishment has nothing to do with the fact that I\u2019m currently living in the middle of the biggest journalistic S**T storm in more than just my lifetime. (Bush v Gore and Watergate were good, but I think Donald Trump takes the cake.)<\/p>\n

      If we have to go with sterile, then let\u2019s go with the more generic definition from Oxford Living Dictionaries<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n

      The activity or profession of writing for newspapers, magazines, or news websites or preparing news to be broadcast<\/p>\n

      I do agree that there are superficial publications (Weekly World News<\/em> anyone?) and there are certainly superficial reporters \u2013 but let\u2019s not define a concept with a few bad examples.<\/p>\n

      Now, even if we assume that I\u2019m offended by \u201csuperficial\u201d because my writing certainly falls more into the \u201ctopical\u201d than \u201cscholarly\u201d writing category and I don\u2019t want people to think of me as superficial, there is still the \u201cwithout analysis\u201d issue.<\/p>\n

      In a perfect world, all journalism would be strictly factual, without bias, and still provide analysis. I\u2019m sorry, we are not all history, political, or even a current events buffs, why do I need to know these facts? Analysis connects the dots.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      Yes, \u201cwithout bias\u201d is almost impossible when providing analysis \u2013 but this isn\u2019t a perfect world. I still want someone to tell me about potential consequences of \u201cthe news.\u201d<\/p>\n

      OK, a traffic accident during commute hours does not need much analysis \u2013 it needs reporting so that other commuters know why they\u2019re stuck or to take alternate routes. Yet, if traffic accidents are regularly occurring in a certain location, then maybe we do need some analysis. Does the road do something weird in that location? Is there an SUV-eating pothole? Are there odd shadows that cause confusion? Are there not enough shadows, and everyone is going blind in that one spot? Are zombies regularly entering the road there?<\/p>\n

      In high school journalism, it was drilled into me that good reporting answers who, what, when, where, why, and how. Analysis helps us with how and certainly with why.<\/strong><\/span> (How did we get to this state of affairs? Why are affairs in this state?)<\/p>\n

      I believe in and am grateful for the power of a free press (especially with what is currently going on in the US government) and a significant portion of that power comes from the analysis of the facts the press is reporting.<\/p>\n

      -Lorrie Nicoles<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      As you may have heard, I\u2019m writing a book. One of the writers that agreed to contribute said that his specialty was journalism \u2013 the problem is that he didn\u2019t answer my questions with information I would think of as being from a journalist. So, I thought maybe I wasn\u2019t defining the word properly. So, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[159,157,158],"class_list":["post-530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-words","category-writing","tag-analysis-of-news","tag-journalism","tag-respect"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is Journalism? - Tora Writing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Journalism? - Tora Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As you may have heard, I\u2019m writing a book. One of the writers that agreed to contribute said that his specialty was journalism \u2013 the problem is that he didn\u2019t answer my questions with information I would think of as being from a journalist. So, I thought maybe I wasn\u2019t defining the word properly. So, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tora Writing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"689\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"418\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorrie Nicoles\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ToraWriting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ToraWriting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lorrie Nicoles\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b\"},\"headline\":\"What is Journalism?\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":667,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Journalism-6A.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"analysis of news\",\"journalism\",\"respect\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Words\",\"Writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/\",\"name\":\"What is Journalism? - Tora Writing\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Journalism-6A.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/what-is-journalism\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Journalism-6A.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Journalism-6A.jpg\",\"width\":689,\"height\":418},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tora Writing\",\"description\":\"Making the World More Understandable\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tora Writing Services\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/kanji-and-Title.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/kanji-and-Title.jpg\",\"width\":1487,\"height\":313,\"caption\":\"Tora Writing Services\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ToraWriting\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ToraWriting\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/lorrienicoles\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b\",\"name\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lorrie Nicoles\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/torawriting.com\\\/sandbox\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is Journalism? - Tora Writing","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is Journalism? - Tora Writing","og_description":"As you may have heard, I\u2019m writing a book. One of the writers that agreed to contribute said that his specialty was journalism \u2013 the problem is that he didn\u2019t answer my questions with information I would think of as being from a journalist. So, I thought maybe I wasn\u2019t defining the word properly. So, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/","og_site_name":"Tora Writing","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/","article_published_time":"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":689,"height":418,"url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lorrie Nicoles","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ToraWriting","twitter_site":"@ToraWriting","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lorrie Nicoles","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/"},"author":{"name":"Lorrie Nicoles","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/person\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b"},"headline":"What is Journalism?","datePublished":"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/"},"wordCount":667,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg","keywords":["analysis of news","journalism","respect"],"articleSection":["Words","Writing"],"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/","name":"What is Journalism? - Tora Writing","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg","datePublished":"2017-01-31T23:10:19+00:00","dateModified":"2017-06-13T18:38:16+00:00","inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/what-is-journalism\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Journalism-6A.jpg","width":689,"height":418},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#website","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/","name":"Tora Writing","description":"Making the World More Understandable","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#organization","name":"Tora Writing Services","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kanji-and-Title.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kanji-and-Title.jpg","width":1487,"height":313,"caption":"Tora Writing Services"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ToraWriting\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ToraWriting","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/lorrienicoles\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/#\/schema\/person\/ef011171af0f8e77f3dde00fc92dd40b","name":"Lorrie Nicoles","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea9f44ac816ddbde64832e4507a1fdcda35d5c7a122a6da5f878cefaf9d63912?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lorrie Nicoles"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":538,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530\/revisions\/538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torawriting.com\/sandbox\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}