Principles Of Journalism

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Journalist, as a significant role within the giant media industry which is increasingly influential on people’s daily life, is theoretically a straight forward job. As former presenter of the ABC’s AM program Peter Cave says: ‘a journalist is an intermediary between the people who want to know information and the sources of information.’ (cited in Tapsall & Varley, 2001 p.6) Obviously it is the idealistic and probably old view which addresses only the most fundamental function that a journalist plays in the society. (Breen, 1998; Burns, 2002; Conley & Lamble, 2006) Since the very beginning of journalism, people have been dealing with technology, which as a basic way of transporting information: Eight weeks were spent to bring the death of King William from England to America in 1702, and even in one century later the death of President Washington was three weeks delayed in the state of Ohio. (Blainey, 1982 p.223, 224) After that, as the world stepped into the evolutionary 20th century together with the dominant ideology of western democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of press is located under the spot light, and so journalists are expected to be more than just a matter of delivering the information by the public. The following terms are instantly mentioned by both journalists and academic scholars around the word: objectivity, truthful, accurate, responsible, fair, good writing (clear, plain writing), precise grammar, ethics … and people is still adding things into that list. However, there is no law that says the journalist will dictate what qualifications, skills, and personal attributes journalists have now or need in the future. (Tapsall & Varley, 2001 p.4) As the technology is dominating the society now, when internet has brought people to a global desktop in the late 20th century, journalist is under the danger of being deconstructed: the simple
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