Many people often wonder what journalism really entails. Could it be a job or a mere report for facts on news that relate to an individual or his surroundings? In this blog we would be looking at journalism; what it is and what it’s not.
Journalism is simply gathering, processing and dissemination of information be it broadcast (tv,radio), print(newspapers,journals) or new media(online). It is a form of writing that deals with informing people about happenings that they might not be aware of. People who write journalism are called journalists and can be found at media houses or institutions.

Journalism may come in the form of news or opinions. In news form, it may come as breaking news example the death of the late musician Ebony was a shock to the citizens of Ghana and thus was very relevant information at that time, feature stories(a detailed look at something interesting which is not breaking news) and also in investigative stories i.e. stories that uncover or reveal information that few people knew. An example of investigative or enterprise story is Anas’ number 12 exposé which sort to bring corruption in the Ghana Football Association(GFA) to light. A good quality of a journalist is curiosity. Good journalists tend to read and investigate or analyze happenings surrounding them and bring these happenings or information to the knowledge of the public whether good or bad thus creating exposure as secrets are brought to light.
Journalism aims at helping to improve the quality of life of people, questioning ongoings in society and to shape the lives of people.
 Truthfulness, accuracy, authorship and ideology are some key principles of journalism. In as much as news spreads fast, you can’t have bad news disseminate as a good journalist as it may stain your credibility or reputation. Yes, news has to be catchy but it should relate to the actual news that is being reported. Your news should be accurate. You can’t be reporting old news such as the June 3rd disaster whiles the government’s plan to build a national cathedral is to be brought to the public to set an agenda.
 Journalism therefore is both a job and also the report on facts about issues happening in an area.

News story is an exact account of an event or situation. It is an account of what is happening and going to happen. There’s no need for the journalist to bring his opinion to board. You have to report news exactly as it is and not what you think. News gathering begins with an invitation. An invitation is sent to media houses to cover events. The invitation is entered into an assignment diary by the assignment editor. Date, time, venue about the event is indicated in the assignment diary.

Sources of news are the people, places or documents a journalist refers to to write his news. News can come from press releases, budgets, the presidency, ministries, ministers, victims, eye witnesses and friends. Every information has a source. The source can be hidden or obvious. A journalist should always have a credible and reliable source. When carrying out your news story, you do not have to be partisan, bias or take sides. Identify the sources in your community, have the mandate or contacts of institutions in your community, do not ask for money from your sources and always be interested in the motive of your source.

Processing is editing news. It must answer the questions who, what, why, when, where and how. Who is involved in the story, affected by it, who is the best person to tell the story, what happened, what can people do about it, where did it happen, where else should I go to get the full story, why is this happening?, why are people behaving the way they are and why does the story matter.

Categories of news reporting are the various forms a journalist uses to present his story. There is the inverted pyramid structure, equal facts structure, suspended interest structure and chronological structure.

Every news must have a headline or title, neck or bridge, a body and background.

The headline is the title of a story printed in a newspaper or which appears on tv. It is written in block capitals and are usually four or five words( note that your title should not exceed 7 words at most). It should be catchy and attract the interest of the audience and should also explain to the audience what to expect in the story.

The lead is the first two sentences of a story. It is the opening paragraph of the story and introduces the subject matter. It summarizes the most important and interesting aspects of a news story. It should be short, simple and straight to the point and must get the attention of the reader.

The neck is the second paragraph which contains the rest of the 5w’s( what, where, when, why and who) that could not go into the lead. It provides information about the occasion of the story and important facts which helps to put the reader or listener fully into the picture.

The why and how goes into the body. After catching the interest of the audience in the lead, the body is supposed to sustain that interest. It has to give the audience more detailed information. Each paragraph of the body is supposed to contain one idea. The ideas have to relate to one another to look like one piece.

The background is where stories end to put the story in a perspective. That is the event that lead to the story.

Ahuja in 2008 said journalism is a highly sophisticated and refined profession. He said journalism is that part of social activity which is concerned with dissemination of news and views about society. He also added that the main function of journalism is to bring to light to the people what it’s members feel and think. Journalists therefore must be intelligent,knowledgeable and experienced. A journalist who misuses his power for unworthy purpose will lose trust with the society that is his credibility becomes questionable. Ahuja also recommends that principles which he refers to as canons should be followed by every journalist.

Canons are principles or general rules by which something is judged. These canons to be followed by journalists are responsibility, independence, fair play, freedom of the press, impartiality, sincerity and decency.

It is the duty of a journalist to be sincere to the public. The journalist needs to be truthful and genuine in his dealings and should never fake anything whether his identity, photograph or quote. Report news as it is and never speculate or guess. Be factual.

A journalist has to be independent in his thinking, covering and presentation of information and sharing of that information. Independence helps you produce work that is not bias and can be trusted i.e. coming from you and not inspired by another person’s motive.

A journalist should be neutral and must not favor anyone. Do not take sides. Whatever that is good for the goose is also good for the gander that is to say whatever you do for party A do same for party B. Your news must not be considerate because of any relationships you may have with the public.

Be sensitive to the sensitivity of others. It is not everything you need to show on tv or in newspapers. Be careful of the language you use to transport your news. Do not use foul or vulgar words when writing or reporting your news. Also, nudity and gory or horrible images or scenes must not be displayed to the public as they are not good for public consumption and puts victims in unbearable situations whenever they recall it.

In my recent blog, we talked about the concept of journalism. What journalism is and what it entails. This particular blog aims to talk about the typology or categories of journalism.

There are five principal forms of journalism that interact with the society. They are straight news, feature or article, editorial, commentary and interviews. We’re going to look at them one after the other and what they entail.

So, what is straight news? Straight news is news report that aims to simply inform the society about what is happening of importance and also new in the world around us. This kind of journalism passes on important and interesting information to the public. They relay facts, events and information to the society in a straightforward, accurate unbiased manner. Here, the opinions of the journalist or reporter is not needed. Facts are just given to the public without interpretation. It is about what happened and nothing else.

Feature articles on the other hand go beyond just passing on information and presents detailed reportage and analysis on a particular topic. It either entertains or educates the public. It provides knowledge, details and interpretation of events, topics or people. It is a write up which allows one to express his or her views on a particular subject.

A kind of journalism that helps to establish the position of a newspaper (media house) on an issue is an editorial. McNair in 1998 said ‘editorial is a way a newspaper or periodical speaks out in its public voice’. Editorials are planned by a group not just one person.

Commentary is a journalistic style in which a journalist presents his or her readers with an authoritative viewpoint in a particular issue. Here, a journalist writes from his point of view or opinion. The writer shares his opinion uses it to advise. Commentary is about reality and not fiction or fabrications. It should be based on facts and figures.

As events happen and topics set agendas, it probes views and policies of those in the news or those who make the news thus creating interviews. Politicians and celebrities are mostly the trendsetters. It can also be a survey of views and opinions of people or individuals who are powerful or influential. The narrative and question and answer forms are ways interviews can be communicated to the public.

Ever wondered what news is ? What it’s qualities and values are? This blog explains the concept of news, its qualities and values.

News is a report of a current event. It is a report about recent happenings in a newspaper, television, radio or internet. It is information not known earlier. It is said that the word ‘NEWS’ is derived from the four directions which are North, East, West, South. This means that news can come from anywhere.

News is new information but ages quickly. It focuses on the present, not on the past or future. Once news has been broadcasted, it becomes history. It is unexpected and talks about something extraordinary and unanticipated. An example is the June 3rd disaster which happened at Kwame Nkrumah circle in 2015. It was a combination of flooding and fire which led to the death of about 150 people. Since it was unexpected and broadcasted, it was news. Time has passed since that disaster hence it is no more news.

Journalists use information to get news. News is from information a journalist gets. Without information, a reporter or journalist has no material for work. News should be new. People are always interested in new things that concern them. It raises their level of curiosity. New information should be interesting, important and must have an impact on the lives of the public. News must be accurate. Every detail starting from dates to statements should be precise and factual. This can be done through the constant use of reference sources, dictionary and encyclopedias. Your news should have balance. It has to be fair to both its sources and audience. Select and arrange facts so as to give a balanced view of the whole news situation. Always make sure that your news is recent. This is important because audiences always demand recent information on topics which are of concern to them.

Timeliness, proximity, controversy or conflict and impact are core values of news. When writing news, consider how close the news is to the audience. This means how close the news touches the lives of the audience and if the story is important to local readers. For example reporting on issues about Donald Trump to Ghanaians has little or no concern at all to them. This is because Donald Trump is the president of another country and not Ghana. People are often interested in controversial issues. That is stories that involve disagreement between people or organizations that lead to dramatic effects. An example is the Bawku conflict. Any event that brings about social unease, damage to property, injury to people and death is good material for news.

Many people often wonder what journalism really is and what it entails.This blog is aimed at tackling what journalism deals with.
Journalism is the gathering, processing and dissemination of information to the public with an aim. Journalism can be put into three main forms which is broadcast( tv,radio), print(newspapers,journals) and new media(online). Individuals who write journalism are called journalists and can be found in media houses or institutions such as radio or tv stations.

Journalism may come in different forms such as news and opinion forms. In news form, it may come as breaking news that is telling about an event as it happens. For example the death of the late musician Ebony was at some point breaking news to the citizens of Ghana. It may also come in a feature story form which is a detailed look at something interesting but is not breaking news or in investigative stories( stories that uncover information few people knew). An example is Anas’ number 12 exposé which focused on corruption in the Ghana Football Association(GFA). A characteristic of a good journalist is curiosity. Journalists read more and always want to know more concerning the world they’re in thus revealing secrets of people and creating exposure.

Journalism aims at improving the quality of life of people, questioning what is going on in society in order to shape lives. Truthfulness, accuracy, actuality and authorship are some key principles to writing good journalism. In as much as news has to be catchy for people to read or be interested in, you don’t want to give false news as a good journalist that is to say report news as it is to the public but also play the role of gatekeeping as some news may be sensitive to the public. News must be fresh and accurate to catch the attention of the individual or public. As a journalist, make sure that your news is coming from a credible source and that you have made your own investigations regarding the information you have because you do not want your credibility or reputation to be at stake. In cases whereby you report fake news, be sure to issue an apology to the public and report on the news as it really is. Also, report on real issues. Your news should be about real events and people not something based off of your imagination.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
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• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

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