- What is journalism?
- History of journalism
- Types of journalism
- Characteristics of journalism
- Importance of journalism
- Journalism and politics
We explain what journalism is, its history, the types that exist and other characteristics. Also, its relationship with politics.
What is journalism?
Journalism is the discipline and also the profession focused on the work of disseminating information through the masive means of comunication. It involves obtaining, processing, interpreting, writing and disseminating information considered relevant, important or pertinent to an audience.
Its central purpose is to provide information, that is, to get to the citizens a reliable, truthful and timely account of the facts. To achieve its mission, it uses auditory, visual, written or audiovisual resources.
It also provides the opportunity to reflect or comment on certain issues, so that the public can assert their rights in the society. In this sense, the handling that journalism gives to information always implies a significant dose of responsibility.
The independence of journalism from the factual powers of a society (the Condition, political parties, lessons economic, etc.) is often regarded as a guarantee of the health of a democracyas it can inform the population of matters that do not suit the powerful. That is why it is called the "fourth estate" (political).
As a discipline, journalism is one of the careers with the most projection and greatest demand in the contemporary world. It is often placed within the Communication Sciences or the sociology herself. It is considered to be part of Social Communication.
History of journalism
The history journalism was born in 1440 with the invention of the printing in Europe. This work by Johannes Gutemberg allowed the spread of numerous works such as the Bible, and with it the majority of the population became literate.
Since then many drawings, pamphlets and posters, especially after the later invention of lithography. Almost two hundred years later, in the seventeenth century the first Newspaper of history: the Mercurius Gallobelgicus. It was published in Cologne, Germany, in 1596.
It was a diary written entirely in Latin, compiled by the Dutch Catholic refugee Michael ab Isselt, under the pseudonym D. M. Jansonius. To its death, many versions of his newspaper emerged in the hands of third parties: the Mercurii Gallobelgici succenturiati e Gotthard Arthusius, or Annalium Mercurio Gallobelgico succenturiatorum by Gaspar Ens.
Since then, newspapers gradually became the preferred means of information for people, along with magazines, which had more limited profiles.
During the 18th century, with the Industrial Revolution, there was a real explosion of media similar. These media continued to grow in importance and diffusion, as an industrial society was established, faster and with greater consumption.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, new technologies revolutionized the field of communications, like radio, TV and very later the Internet. These new inventions allowed the professionalization of the journalistic trade and its massive and diverse consumption, using audiovisual, written, animated and all kinds of technologies.
In this way, the history of journalism is usually classified into three stages: the artisan period (1609-1789), the modern period (1789-1875) and the contemporary period (1875-present).
Types of journalism
The texts Journalistic are usually classified into three genres, according to their intention towards the reader. These genres are:
- Informative. Texts or broadcasts in order to correctly impart information from interest, usually newsworthy or current, like the News or the reportage.
- Opinion. Texts or broadcasts in which a way of understanding the reality or other text, according to the author's criteria, such as editorials and opinion articles.
- Hybrids Texts or broadcasts in which informative rigor is combined with personal and subjective opinion, such as the interview and the chronicle.
On the other hand, the exercise of journalism can be classified according to the type of tools used to carry out communication:
- Written. One who uses the word to communicate with readers, as in newspapers and magazines.
- Graphic. The one that uses only images: Photographs, illustrations, such as photo reports.
- Radiophonic. One that uses the human voice through electromagnetic waves as a communication vehicle, obviously as in radio programs.
- Audiovisual. The one born with the television and the movie theater, incorporating moving images inherited from the cinema into the audio, as in television newscasts.
- Digital. The line born with the Internet, uses all the tools of the previous types, to which is added the hyperlink and participatory reception, as in news portals and in certain profiles of social networks.
Characteristics of journalism
Journalism, broadly speaking, is characterized by the following:
- Professionally employs the mass media (written, audiovisual or digital) to reach an audience, to which it provides information of a different nature.
- Generally adheres to a code of ethics that proposes objectivity, impartiality and veracity in the information provided.
- Use “sources”, That is, informants of greater or lesser confidence, who provide the information in a confidential manner.
- It relies on freedom of the press, that is, on the permission of the State to develop an editorial line with full freedoms.
- Journalism training usually consists of a diverse set of knowledge (“an ocean of information one centimeter deep”), and a technical knowledge specialized for the management of communication tools.
Importance of journalism
Journalism is essential for the coexistence of the democratic forces of a country, since it serves as a watchdog of the political, economic and social actors that make life in society, ensuring that public opinion finds out what it should know.
A society devoid of journalism, lacks the means to inform itself about itself, to think about its dilemmas and to hear the voice of its intellectuals. Journalism is thus a meeting place for society with itself.
Journalism and politics
The relationship between journalism and politics is the same as that between public opinion and the government in a society. Thus, journalism allows society to question the authorities and demand a response to matters of interest.
In fact, if journalists are not governed by their strict ethical code and professional, they can end up acting as political actors, that is, as biased opinion makers, hiding instead of revealing, lying instead of being truthful, and misinforming instead of providing data reliable.
A journalism subjected to political power through censorship, does not fulfill its role and ends up becoming an instrument of propaganda.