The role of the news journalist has changed considerably in the past century even though the main purpose to report the news to a community is still the same. Historically, early journalists were messengers to the, originally through word and then through text (Stephans, 2001). They were not accompanied with pictures, and thus the reports were very long and descriptive working much more like a story. An example of this is shown through “Death by Guillotine: Rome 8 March” written by Charles Dickens in 1845 as the readers of today when comparing it with recent articles agree it sounds more like a story due to the descriptive language. Today the journalists do not even have to witness an event, with the use of telephones the journalists now can call an eyewitness to find out information. Additionally with the use of pictures articles can be much smaller, as a picture can account for the description. The public view of the news journalist has also changed in the last century. Historically news journalists were often referred to as story tellers, while now they are thought of as information workers or reporters, as the photographer is able to do much of the story telling for them with a photograph.
While a news journalist does receive much criticism from the general public they are still very important in today’s global and multi-media society. Especially in democracies “people depend on the news media for the fair and truthful reporting of current events” (Bagdikian 1991). News journalists collectively cover more stories than any other news media, with far more description. Many believe the newspaper to be a good information source for general knowledge and news journalists today, not only cover what is important in the immediate surroundings but furthermore cover news breaking stories from around the globe (Bagdikian 1991). Especially in a time when terrorism is a global threat and other natural disasters can affect a community so much, the news journalist’s role is still very important.
A major challenge for the news journalist is the diminishing need for them. With a large concentration of media ownership companies are able to share stories with other newspapers, and thus there is not a need for more than one journalist to be reporting on the same story. The news journalists’ audience is also currently loosing interest and so journalists have increased the entertainment quotient of the news. As a result, serious stories are becoming rare, and stories have become far more sensationalised (Vatsikopoulos 1998, Richardson 1998, Walsh 1998). The majority of news journalists changing their story techniques to meet the needs of the reader has meant that newspapers are starting to sell the same product. This has become another challenge for news journalists as they have indirectly increased competition.
Technology advances is something that is affecting news journalists today, and is a major challenge for them. With the advances in technology it has meant that a great amount of information is available at all times. There is not a need to buy a newspaper when information is available on the internet for free. With the introduction of new software news journalists no longer have to be an exceptional writer, as the software can check the articles for them. Long serving experienced news journalists may find it difficult to adapt to the ever changing technology in use. Technology, as stated before, allows the sharing of stories between newspapers and directly affects the need for news journalists.
Another major challenge is the change in need of knowledge of the news journalists. There has been a significant change from the news journalist that has a broad amount of knowledge to the news journalist that has a specific focus of knowledge. Traditionally, journalists were required to have multiple skills and be versatile. Now with the advancement in technology, and sharing of material, it is better if journalists have specialisation in one particular field, especially if they want to keep their job and survive (Walsh 1998).
As can be seen the role of a news journalist is one that is complex, and has many varying descriptions. They are different from other media writers and presenters in how the news journalists present their stories. Their role has changed in the past century from being considered more of a story teller to a reporter, due the advancement in technology and introduction of photos. Regardless of the advancement in technology a news journalist is still very important as the general public want to be aware of what is happening not only on a local scale but a global scale. With the advancement of technology, however, the news journalist faces many new challenges such as the diminishing need for them and the need for specialised news journalists. While these challenges may be difficult for the news journalist, it will not deter from its main role to report news to the community while the demand is still there.
Works Cited
Bagdikian, Ben. World Book Encylopedia. (Sydney: World Book Inc, 1991) 11:170
MEAA 1999, as quoted in Tapsall and Varley. Journalism Theory in Practice. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004) 5
Richardson, 1998 as quoted in Tapsall and Varley. Journalism Theory in Practice. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004) 7, 13
Walsh 1998 as quoted in Tapsall and Varley. Journalism Theory in Practice. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004) 13, 16
Vatsikopoulos as quoted in Tapsall and Varley. Journalism Theory in Practice. (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2004) 13
“Death by Guillotine: Rome 8 March 1845.” Charles Dickens. Faber Book of Reportage. John Cleary (Ed.) Faber and Faber, London: 1987.
WordNet 1.7.1 Princeton University.
<http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=WordNet+Synsets&deid=180167201&gwp=8>
Mitchell Stephens, Center for Media Literacy, <http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article409.html>
