The Skills of a Great Journalist Essay - 1239 Words

The stories in which journalists report, create conversations at dinner with family, or a topic at the pub with friends. Without journalism, what would we know? It is because of journalists we can know what is happening on the other side of the world, in the comfort of our living rooms. As journalists we are watchdogs for the public, we represent the absent, and answer all their questions. Journalists over time develop their skills of spotting what will make good news. When finding my own news stories, I struggled to find stories that an audience would find interesting. When reporting news it often falls into categories (Harcup, 2009, P43). This list helped me to look at the different categories, which is considered news. However, I†¦show more content†¦In relation to Leveson’s quote, we report stories so our audience can see what is happening around the world. Yet, how can we speak for those who will not speak to us. It would be unethical to assume opinions, this is why we use vox pops to gather a range of opinions. It is often said that journalists are one of the least trusted professions. â€Å"A typical poll of more than 2000 adults in 2006 found just 19 per cent saying they trusted journalists to tell the truth† (Harcup, 2009, P3). Looking back at Leveson’s quote, he states that we are ‘critical witnesses to the events’. I question how we can be critical witnesses, if our audience do not completely believe what we are saying. I believe the News Intertational phone hacking scandal plays a role in our trust with the public. I soon developed the knowledge that news is written in short sentences and short paragraphs. Journalists use short sentences in order to make the news more readable to some of the public. However, sentences are becoming shorter than they used to be (Hicks, 2007, P63). Most news stories use the ‘inverted pyramid’ to report stories. This means telling the most important information first, in order to grab your readers attention. News is written this way in order to bring people up to date. When new information is added, readers are able to read it first. The introduction is the most important part of the story. Your introductionShow MoreRelatedEssay about How to Improve Journalism Education904 Words   |  4 PagesEducation Media tycoons agreed that profound changes are taking place in the News media industry that pose challenges for journalists and the news organizations for which they work. 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