What is journalism really?

A tricky question to answer. Likely, one that will have changing definitions as time goes on.

However, at its core, journalism is the practice of conveying information.

How that information is conveyed has changed drastically over the years. Now, practicing journalism does not mean what it may have meant 5, 10 or 50 years ago.

The landscape is different, but the goal is the same. To convey information effectively as a journalist, you have to understand how reporters have done it in times past. Then, adapt to the present.

Beginnings of a profession

The earliest forms of journalism acted as event announcements. In ancient China and Rome, officials and city people could be notified of speeches and other events.

It would be many centuries before a newspaper would be seen. And these publications hardly represented what we would come to know.

Then, newspapers and other publications did not focus on the facts the way they do now.

In fact, they focused much more on opinion, writing style and political leanings.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the last century that journalistic objectivity became the norm. A new focus on facts, as opposed to opinion, allowed readers to make their own conclusions.

With a new standard of facts, newspapers of the day began to pride themselves in reporting accurately. Even those that gave way to more sensational headlines.

As news progressed into the 1900’s trade publications and groups become increasingly popular. With it, a new standard of practice.

The Associated Press style guide was released to its writers as early as 1951. The book gave journalists the gold standard on how to write for the masses.

In it, a focus on conveying news quickly, accurately and interestingly to readers was the ultimate goal.

The style would lead journalism through a golden age of newspapers.

Eventually, that age would end.

Shifting to a digital landscape

Journalism is not immune to the progression of technology.

When television became a mainstay of American households, news programs were not far behind. Anchors became the trusted faces of journalism. People tuned in to learn about events like the Vietnam War and the moon landing.

While initially, this had little impact on the newspaper business, it slowly ate away at the market.

Then, in the 1980s a shift in journalism would change the industry forever. CNN brought the first 24-hour news channel on June 1, 1980. News was now available from any television, all the time.

The daily, all-encompassing newspaper was beginning to become unnecessary if someone had already watched the news of the day.

Traditional newspapers had little to adapt to the change, until the implementation of the internet.

Internet websites in the newspaper industry were a way for companies to constantly stream stories to their readership.

However, the new service was not implemented in the same way it is today. The sites worked as overflow from the publication and offered little in the way of revenue. Paywalls were not yet used and viewers could receive their news online for free.

A standard of free online news persisted for several years. Then, declining revenue from print additions forced publications to rethink their online presence. The use of online subscription fees and paywalls became a way to offset a dwindling print readership.

A revolution in internet usage during the 90s and into the 21st century gave way to a new field for journalism.

Now, catchy leads and headlines are only part of a successful story. Knowledge of SEO, analytics, algorithms and social media became vital to the industry.

What journalism has become

Journalism is the practice of conveying information.

But now news outlets have to bring their content to the consumers, instead of consumers coming to the news.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google and Tik Tok. Behemoths in the information age and gatekeepers of information.

Journalists and news publications have to use these tools to convey information in a way that has never been required before.

Rarely does a consumer read past a headline and excerpt. Inundated with information, consumers take only fractions of a second to decide whether to read a story. That is, if they choose to read at all.

In the era of visualization, media built for the eyes has begun to outpace the written word. New media publications such as Vice have announced a shift to video, firing some writers with it.

Even legacy publications like The New York Times, USA Today and the Associated Press have added visual elements to their stories. Terms like multimedia packages, data visualization and augmented reality have changed the way consumers take their news.

That is if journalists can reach their audiences.

Google and social media keep and archive seemingly endless amounts of pages and websites. A computer program decides which content is seen by consumers.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is just one of the new skills needed by journalists. Researching what users are seeking, then curating content so that it is favored by sites like Google is just one of the hurdles.

Adapting media to the changing times is not new, but journalists need to and continue conveying their value by staying with trends.

Value is still found at the core of journalism: providing information for those seeking it out.

And as long as journalists follow where consumers are, there will always be a market for information.

About Post Author