Class Notes 4-18-11: What is Journalism?

Definition:
Define “Journalism” in 1-3 sentences.
I define journalism as the telling of current events that are newsworthy through newspaper, magazines, and the internet.

List and describe the six criteria of newsworthiness.

TITLE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE1. Timliness: it is current. (Ex: Sports scores from last night.)

2. Prominence: we care about famous people and things. (Ex: When Brittany Spears got a haircut.)
3. Proximity: we care because it's close to us. (Ex: Daily weather in Russia doesn't matter to me living in USA.)

4. Significance: the bigger the event, the more newsworthy it is. (Ex. The Japan earthquakes.)

5. Unusualness: we care about things that don't happen often. (Ex: Murders or house fires.)

6. Human Interest: feel-good stories. (Ex: Baby dolphin born at the zoo.)


What are the advantages of print journalism?
1. The stories go much more into detail.

2. You can control what you view.

3. You can take it with you.


What are the advantages of broadcast journalism?1. Much more current than print.

2. Being able to see and hear the story is much more powerful than reading about it.

3. Being able to get the news pretty much wherever you are because its mostly free.


Why has online journalism (convergent media) become so popular?

Because it takes the best of both types of journalism into one style of media.