Who is a journalist? "The emergence of citizen or grassroots journalism inevitably raises the question of whether bloggers, the operators of online news sites, or even freelancers should be considered journalists, with the same legal rights as reporters who are employed by traditional news organizations." 29 June 2013
Circulated by Stephen Tut Puol, In today's digital world, almost anyone with a computer or mobile phone can be a 'citizen reporter', sending pictures or stories to a news outlet, or reporting, analyzing and disseminating information themselves. The rapid rise of the citizen journalist and the blogger raises the question of what it means to be a professional journalist, if 'everyone is a journalist'. Do we need a broader definition of 'journalist'? Who should be called a journalist, and what should we call the people who collect and distribute information using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, but don't necessarily work for a news organization or have journalism training. It’s a hot topic in many regions of the world today, with journalists falling passionately on one side or the other. A journalist is a person whose job is to seek the truth and defend the freedom of expression and that makes the journalist an activist in this environment. A journalist will confront the government simply to defend his/her rights as a journalist. “In such a situation a journalist is not changing his/her description he/she is just operating in a different state.” The inability to draw a line between journalism and activism has significant implications, throughout the world. So who is exactly is a journalist? A journalist is a person who writes for newspapers or magazines or prepares news to be broadcast on radio or television. A person engaged in journalism; especially, a writer or editor for news medium who aims at a mass audience, whose occupation is journalism. Journalism is the method of collecting, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. The emergence of citizen or grassroots journalism inevitably raises the question of whether bloggers, the operators of online news sites or even freelancers are journalists. Journalist is a person who practices the occupation or profession of journalism. A Journalist keeps a journal, diary, or other record of daily events. A journalist collects, writes and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism. The roles of a journalist A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes and reports information to present in sources, conduct interviews, engage and make reports. The information-gathering part of a journalist's job is sometimes called "reporting," in contrast to the production part of the job such as writing articles. Reporters may split their time between working in a newsroom and going out to witness events or interview people in the field. Reporters may be assigned a specific beat or area of coverage. Depending on the context, the term journalist may include various types of editors, editorial writers, columnists, and visual journalists, such as photojournalists (journalists who use the medium of photography). Journalism has developed a variety of ethics and standards. While objectivity and a lack of bias are often considered important, some types of journalism, such as advocacy journalism, intentionally adopt a non-objective viewpoint. A journalist" is referred to as a public intellectual whose role involves researching complicated issues of fact or science which most laymen would not have the time or access to information to research and then communicating an accurate and understandable version to the public as a teacher and policy advisor. Many analysts argued that most individuals lacked the capacity, time, and motivation to follow and analyze news of the many complex policy questions that troubled society. Nor did they often directly experience most social problems, or have direct access to expert insights. These limitations were made worse by a news media that tended to over-simplify issues and to reinforce stereotypes, partisan viewpoints, and prejudices, as a consequence. A journalist can be a correspondent, intelligencer, reporter, newshound, newsman, newsperson or a pressman. A journalist is an announcer, broadcaster, newscaster, newspaperman, newspaperwoman, newswoman; anchor, anchorman, anchorperson, anchorwoman; by-liner, columnist, commentator; copyreader, editor, photojournalist, police reporter, sportswriter, staffer, stringer The function of a Journalist’s In other term being journalists’ about doing journalism. The emergence of citizen or grassroots journalism inevitably raises the question of whether bloggers, the operators of online news sites, or even freelancers should be considered journalists, with the same legal rights as reporters who are employed by traditional news organizations. “The applicability of the news gatherers’ privilege is determined not by the reporter’s formal status as a ‘professional journalist,’ but rather by the reporter’s functional conduct in gathering information with the purpose of disseminating widely to the public.” The Safety and Protection of journalists Journalists are to be protected from illegal imprisonment, harassment, intimidation, and from abuses including all kinds of threats, from those who take the laws in their own hands. Since the CPA many journalists have been arrested and put in prison unlawfully by the members of organize forces or from the members of judiciary, people who in fact abuses their constitutional powers, by intimidating journalists, since then, no single journalists have been charged by any court for any wrong doing. But whatever, treatment the journalists have been subjected to was purely from individual who think they are more powerful than the vulnerable journalists, therefore, they do exercised their powers on journalists who have no any legal protection or constitutional rights in the absence of the media laws. Journalists are also to be protected from being kills because they do exercise their freedom of expression, either through writing articles or through broadcasting or through any electronic means of transmission or in a public debate. In whichever, means journalists should be allow to exercise their legal rights to express themselves freely in whatever means choose. Many journalists have been abused, harassed, intimidated and put in jails by individual senior officers from the organize forces, who can just order a policeman to arrest a journalist without any arrest warrant, such a practice must be put to an end. Most of the journalists who have been arrested in such a manner have been always released without changes, because most of these arrests were carried out illegally in the first place, without any arrest warrant from any concern judge. Most of the reasons which led to the arrest of those journalists are caused by written articles by those journalists. In reality journalists are not supposed to be arrested for doing their jobs. Journalists are also to be protected from being force to reveals their sources of information, because it is their legal right not to reveals their sources of information’s, if they so wish to do so. The traditional definition of a journalist is based on employment or association. “A publisher, editor, reporter or other person connected with or employed upon a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication or by a press association or wire service or any person who has been so connected or employed, shall not be adjudged in contempt by a judicial, legislative, or administrative body for refusing to disclose the source of any information procured while so connected or employed for publication in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication, or for refusing to disclose any unpublished information obtained or prepared in gathering, receiving or processing of information for communication to the public.” The law also should protect “a radio or television news broadcasters, reporter or other person connected with or employed by a radio or television station.” The same protection would apply to “stringers, freelancers and perhaps authors.” This protection should include bloggers, operators of online sites, people who send their cell-phone photographs of newsworthy people or events to be published, broadcast or posted, and other distributors of information using new technology and software. I am a journalist because I do journalism work, therefore I am a journalist. Journalist are also to be protected “for refusing to disclose the source of any information procured, while so connected or employed for publication in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical publication” Under the functional principle, the protected activity would have to have occurred while the employee of such an organization was doing journalism. But merely being employed by a news organization would not protect someone from the consequences of no journalistic activities. Journalists are to be protected when refusing to disclose their sources of information provided that the article or the story in question has a public benefit. The protection laws themselves exist because of the assumption that there is a public benefit to journalism and as a result, society is justified in extending special protection to those who practice journalism. Under the proposed functional definition of journalism, the phrase slightest redeeming social importance would extend to the work of citizen or grass-roots journalists, as long as they were doing journalism. At its core, the functional definition of journalism is much like the functional definition of a duck. If it looks like journalism, acts like journalism, and produces the work of journalism, then its journalism and the people doing it are journalists, whoever they may be. A journalist in broad terms, focusing on the process and craft of newsgathering, a journalist is someone who gathers news and information “for a substantial portion of the person’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain.” A journalist is defined as someone who: obtains the information, sought while working as employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity; that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, or other means; and that publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical; operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier; operates a programming service; or operates a news agency or wire service; Stephen Tut Puol Chief Editor South Sudan Post magazine, Member of AMDISS Executive Committee, Juba, South Sudan Contacts: 0955859595/0926741204 E-mail: [email protected] Posted in: Opinions Comments RSS comment feed 29/06/2013, 2:13 PM - Posted by Jacob Akol Comment from John Gachie Dear Stephen and all, I would be very, very careful in attempting to define a journalist(s) and guard against the invasion of all who are literate and can put pen to paper or even have a nice voice and including looks and ability to operate and manage (technical ability and or operations) as belonging to the profession of journalism. Journalism and or the conduct of journalism is bout the "other", ie writing, processing, gathering and dissemination of news( here we mean accurate, factual and balanced news) for the "benefit" of the "other" (meaning the Public or for Public Good) to either empower, enable, inform, impart, impact, share, ass and transmit knowledge/intelligence as an integral part of Freedom of Expression - whether for gain in the free market of ideas. Whether that gain is altruistic/religious/cultural and political-cum-economic and or financial including scientific - the news and or analysis, commentary in whatever form must be accurate, factual and balanced and obtained in an ethical manner/means and processed, packaged and displayed and broadcasted/relayed in professional manner that respects/protects and enhances the public's good, respects the public's tastes and ethics and does not pander to the journalists/writers whims and or lack of therein as most are wont to confuse their personal inclinations/tastes and dispositions with the public good. That is why a code of conduct/ethics is paramount and indispensable in the practice of professional journalism. At the core is the question of ethical responsibility and societal responsibility. Do individual(s) have a right to Free Expression an or Freedom of Expression, certainly. But does the exercise of Free Speech and Freedom of Expression by an individual (s) translate and or confer journalistic obligations and or professional ethical practices and norms to the individual(s) - certainly not. Therefore, not all who exercise and seek and aspire for Free Speech and Freedom of Expression are journalist(s) For Journalism is about accuracy, facts and balance and hopefully, truth is served if not ventilated (though not always). Bloggers/ so-called citizens journalists/ researchers and others are free exercise Free Speech and purse Freedom of Expression, but they cannot and should not be allowed to claim journalist benefits if they do not and can not be held to account and abide/effect and observe ethical code of conduct and practice of journalism - we exercise this right for the benefit of the "other" not "self" and responsible to society for whom we exercise and seek to empower, facilitate and enable and defend. We must guard against the infiltration of and soiling of journalism profession, craft and trade by quacks and other seeking to gratify "self" under the guise of serving " other" as many are wont to. Journalism is not about writing/producing/directing and all other technical operations including editing, its about providing a product that is well sourced, accurate, factual and balanced and obtained in an ethical manner to serve a larger Public Interest and or Good. I hope so. Lets be very careful about the company we keep and what we expect of them - for many are keen to infiltrate and contaminate our profession, craft and trade for not too Public Interest Good. Best regards Gachie -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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