In the article, ‘The Professionalization of Journalism’ John C. Merrill addresses the issue of whether or not journalism should become a professionalized occupation. Merrill notes that although journalism is not presently considered to be a profession, many journalists perceive themselves as being professionals. The Oxford Shorter Dictionary defines ‘profession’ as “Occupation which one professes to be skilled in and to follow. . . .A vocation in which professed knowledge of some branch of learning is used in its application to the affairs of others, or in the practice of an art based upon it.” Merrill outlines several advantages those within a professionalized occupation benefit from including an elite image, a level of regulation and standardization of the activities performed by individuals within that profession, and greater financial rewards. Throughout this article, Merrill considers many of the defining elements of a profession and considers whether it is appropriate for journalism to be included among professionalized occupations. In order to determine whether journalism should become professionalized, it is crucial to understand what the term professionalized entails. Merrill takes into account several definitions and criterion of what characteristics are required for an occupation to be considered professional, as well as the benefits and restrictions associated with the title.
One definition considered by Merrill in this article is that presented by sociologist William Goode, who states that being a professionalized occupation means belonging to a homogenous community in which members feel a sense of shared identity and common values. Merrill notes that journalists exercise a high level of occupational freed...
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...iteria limiting who can express themselves with the written word and who cannot. It would be next to impossible to give exclusive rights to some individuals to practice journalism which is another characteristic Merrill attributes to professions. The final professional attribute Merrill considers with respect to journalism, is the idea of a homogenous community presented by sociologist William Goode. Merrill notes that journalists do not compromise this idea of a homogenous community as they do not have a common self-identification or a clear vision of the role they are to play in society.
Merrill argues also that there are many elements of journalism that would be lost if it were to be professionalized such as journalists freedom of expression. The professionalization of journalism would narrow this creative occupation and limit many of its defining aspects.
Self-motivation and determination are two of the main ideals of being journalist. If a journalist does not have the desire to find and report a story, he has no career. A journalist depends on finding the facts, getting to the bottom of the story and reporting to the public, whether it’s positive or negative. Janet Malcom states in the book The Journalist and the Murderer, “Every journalist who is not too stupid or too full of himself to notice what is going on knows that what he does is morally indefensible.” (Malcolm, 3) Her starting words speak volumes about “the Journalist and the Murderer” and the lessons that can be learned.
I say this because there were points in which I personally could not really understand what was going on due to my lack of exposure to this problem that American journalism is facing. More specifically, terminology that was used, especially from business standpoints, and the different companies that were involved made it harder to keep up with the issue at hand. However, with a little editing and better explanation of terminology, I think that this film could extend to a wide audience that would include both digital natives and digital immigrants that are experiencing this transition within American news reporting. This paper will examine the difference between old and new journalism and its new standards, “The New York Times Effect” and its 21st century challenges, important qualifications to be a successful journalist, and the future role of journalism within American society.
Dr. Jennifer Greer need not verbally utter any detail regarding the extent of her success in journalism. By simply taking a look around her office in the Journalism Department at the University of Alabama, one can resolve that Dr. Greer’s journalism career has been nothing short of admirable. Adorning the walls of her fourth floor office, various plaques and certificates give undeniable evidence of Dr. Greer’s commendable success. Beginning with her Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and continuing on to her Ph.D. from the University of Florida, Dr. Greer has achieved a long list of accomplishments, especially in the field of journalism. In fact, Dr. Greer has spent the majority of her life successfully learning to be a journalist.
Theses and Professional Projects from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Paper 2. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/2
The workers of the New York Times share a mutual understanding of what to write about and how they should go about doing it. According to Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, “The quality of the decisions journalists make from day to day is heavily influenced by editors and the culture of the newsroom” (243). Journalists find the facts but each of the editors and culture ...
The author provides a rough timeline of the objective norm emerging in American journalism, and explains the inner origin of these co...
It is not uncommon to hear people complaining about what they hear on the news. Everyone knows it and the media themselves knows it as well. Some of the most renowned journalists have even covered the the media’s issues in detail. Biased news outlets have flooded everyday news. We find that journalism’s greatest problems lie in the media’s inability for unbiased reporting, the tendency to use the ignorance of their audience to create a story, and their struggles to maintain relevance.
According to The Balance, professionalism is defined as an individual’s conduct at work. The article points out that the quality of the root word professional is not restricted to what we describe as “the professions” which typically describes careers that require years of education and training with higher wages after completion. Careers that can be consider a profession include doctors, lawyers, or engineers, but the article also points out that a profession can include jobs that require minimal training with modest earnings to
she effectively remain a credible journalist while still holding her vow to help those "trapped in
News Broadcasting On April 7, 1997, I watched NBC 5 News at 6. Warner Saunders (filling in for Ron Majors) and Carol Marin were co-anchors. Because I do not usually watch the news, I found myself seeing it with fresh eyes. For instance, I never before realized how little time is spent on each story within a 30-minute newscast.
The media is sometimes called the “Fourth Estate” because of its influence in shaping the course of politics and public opinion. Some people are influenced by what they read or hear and others are not. There is a well-known psychological process called selective attention. Wilson, Dilulio, and Bose define it as “paying attention only to those news stories with which one already agrees.” (290)
Thirty years ago, if I told you that the primary means of communicating and disseminating information would be a series of interconnected computer networks you would of thought I was watching Star Trek or reading a science fiction novel. In 2010, the future of mass media is upon us today; the Internet. The Internet is and will only grow in the future as the primary means of delivering news, information and entertainment to the vast majority of Americans. Mass media as we know it today will take new shape and form in the next few years with the convergence and migration of three legacy mediums (Television, Radio, Newspaper) into one that is based on the Internet and will replace these mediums forever changing the face of journalism, media and politics. In this paper I will attempt to explain the transition of print media to one of the internet, how the shift to an internet based media environment will impact journalism and mass media, and how this migration will benefit society and forever change the dynamic of news and politics.
Furthermore, a public relations career is much more closely grouped with media relations these days than journalism. In the book, Making it in Public Relations: An Insider’s Guide, it is said that Media relations is the most dominant function of public relations. Its basic role is the origination of press information and the handling of requests from the media about a specialist’s subjects and activities. After all, the main goal of specialists is to present a positive public image of their client to the public (Mogel). The possible types of clients and fields vary wildly from each other. Some specialists can work in public relations consulting firms and hold campaigns for many clients. Other specialists can work in the advertising departments of major brands and w...
"Journalists and Social Media | The Changing Newsroom." The Changing Newsroom | New Media. Enduring Values. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .
...nalism has become deeply entrenched in the media, leaving the public paying a high price through their loss of credible sources of information. In turn, journalists are also paying a high price by sacrificing their ethical standards and succumbing to the temptations of sensationalism for the sake of profit. The mass media has particularly found an avenue for vivid sensationalism through the phenomenon of television, which allows the public to passively absorb fast-moving images, without receiving comprehensive information. It is unlikely that sensationalism can be eliminated, however, the public would be well advised to actively consider their sources of information, rejecting those that blatantly disregard standards of objectivity and credibility in exchange for shallow glitter. By clearly sending a message of dissatisfaction to the corporations that control the mass media, the public may influence the decisions that are made and work toward improvement. Likewise, despite being constrained by the mandates of their management, journalists must make a concerted effort to resist resorting to sensationalism to sell a story, and rather base their success on solid, objective reporting.