Journalism: a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting news regarding

current events, trends, issues and people.

The Job of the Journalist (taken from Journalism: Who What When Where Why & How 19)
Journalists decide what news is, and in doing so they make many important decisions about what
a society says to itself, how it explains itself, what social order is established and maintained, and
how the problems and shortcomings of that society are revealed. In addition to doing all these
things, journalists also have certain responsibilities to their own profession:
• They must maintain the standards of their profession as well as the customs and
conventions of the journalistic culture. These conventions include gathering news and
information, editing it for their medium, and distributing it in ways that meet standards of
fairness and accuracy.
• Journalists have the responsibility of maintaining the economic health of their news
organizations. Because these organizations are not government sponsored or supported
(except in rare instances), they must make enough profit to continue operation and to
have the resources to practice the kind of journalism that is expected and necessary for
society.
• Finally, journalists are charged with fostering and promoting the idea of an open society
in which information flows freely, people can think and speak creatively and a variety of
points of view about all topics is tolerated.

The primary role of the journalist is to question and uncover truths.

1. Discover and publish information that replaces rumour and speculation
2. Resist or evade government control
3. Inform and so empower voters
4. Subvert those whose authority relies on a lack of public information
5. Scrutinize the action and inaction of governments, elected representatives and public
services.
6. Scrutinize businesses, their treatment of workers and customers and the quality of their
products.
7. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, providing a voice for those who cannot
normally be heard in public.
8. Hold up a mirror to society reflecting its virtues and vices and also debunking its
cherished myths.
9. Ensure that justice is done, is seen to be done and investigations are carried out where
this is not so
10. Promote the free exchange of ideas especially by providing a platform for those with
philosophies alternative to prevailing ones