Responsibilities Of The Journalist

Journalism: a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting news regarding current events, trends, issues and people. The Job of the Journalist (taken from Journalism: Who What When Where Why & How 19) Journalists decide what news is, and in doing so they make many important decisions about what a society says to itself, how it explains itself, what social order is established and maintained, and how the problems and shortcomings of that society are revealed. In addition to doing all these things, journalists also have certain responsibilities to their own profession: •

They must maintain the standards of their profession as well as the customs and conventions of the journalistic culture. These conventions include gathering news and information, editing it for their medium, and distributing it in ways that meet standards of fairness and accuracy.

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Journalists have the responsibility of maintaining the economic health of their news organizations. Because these organizations are not government sponsored or supported (except in rare instances), they must make enough profit to continue operation and to have the resources to practice the kind of journalism that is expected and necessary for society.

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Finally, journalists are charged with fostering and promoting the idea of an open society in which information flows freely, people can think and speak creatively and a variety of points of view about all topics is tolerated.

The primary role of the journalist is to question and uncover truths. 1. Discover and publish information that replaces rumour and speculation 2. Resist or evade government control 3. Inform and so empower voters 4. Subvert those whose authority relies on a lack of public information 5. Scrutinize the action and inaction of governments, elected representatives and public services. 6. Scrutinize businesses, their treatment of workers and customers and the quality of their products. 7. Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, providing a voice for those who cannot normally be heard in public. 8. Hold up a mirror to society reflecting its virtues and vices and also debunking its cherished myths. 9. Ensure that justice is done, is seen to be done and investigations are carried out where this is not so 10. Promote the free exchange of ideas especially by providing a platform for those with philosophies alternative to prevailing ones