assignment. journalism profession or craft

Table of Contents

1.    Introduction. 2

2.    Definitions. 2

2.1 Profession. 2

2.2 Journalism.. 2

2.3 Craft 3

3.    Journalism as a profession or craft 3

4.    Conclusion. 4

5.    Bibliography. 5

 

1.      Introduction

This essay will give definitions and the difference between profession, journalism and craft. It will further argue whether journalism is a profession or craft.

2.      Definitions

2.1 Profession

According to (Merriam, 2012) “a profession is something a little more than a job, it is a career for someone that wants to be part of a society”. For one to be regarded as a professor he/she needs to be competent in the chosen sector. Competency can be achieved through proper training, and the use of some development activities such as internship to maintain their skills, and commit to behave in an ethical manner to protect the interest of the public. It is a normal action for people in the community to rely on professionals when they need knowledge on certain things, from as little as a toothache they will definitely go to a dentist, for educational reasons they will go to a teacher and so on, generally people rely on professionals in order to gain knowledge.

In the 19^th century law, religion, and medicine were the ones seen to be professions ( (Merriam, 2012). In the present days there is a much wider and even an increasing number of professions due to the fact that people are now focusing on becoming more specialised in nature and more professional in a form of acquiring specific standards of current and on-going education, so anything from automotive technicians to journalists, public relation officers can be referred to as professional.

2.2 Journalism

Telling people about the surroundings of the society and revealing new, interesting, informative, credible and prominent information is Journalism in general. “Journalism involves identifying newsworthy information for the mass communication” (Clear. 2011: 10). People who practice journalism may work as newspaper and magazine editors, reporters , websites, television and radio broadcasters. Journalists are believed to have a shared and common characteristics of curiosity. An individual to be a good journalist he/she must have the love of reading and wanting to find out more about the so happenings of the world around them.

A good Journalist should be able to recognise a good story, find stories that will attract people, be able to persuade people to talk to them about their experiences to take good notes, be willing to put more hard work and long hours(Frost. 2011: 60).  A good journalist must also maintain the ability to write well, be punctual, trustworthy and reliable.

2.3 Craft

A job that needs skills especially with hands is regarded as a craft (Oxford dictionary. 2011: 108).Craft is basically an activity involving skills in making things by hand. Craft is mainly a skill that is more focused on practical than theory, its activities entails brick layering, sewing, and painting which are generally regarded as skilled labors.

3.      Journalism as a profession or craft

Journalism should and is regarded as a profession due to the following facts: it is categorised under the faculty of creative arts and communication sciences, competent students or candidates can obtain either a diploma or degree in it, and a person can then decide on which job description does he/she wants to pursue. Individuals studying towards a diploma or degree in journalism are trained in a way that they acquire skills on spotting newsworthy information, writing stories and conducting a fruitful interview. The training given at colleges and universities also entails how good and credible journalists should behave, hence it should or can be seen as a profession rather than craft.

Journalist should aim to please by always telling the truth, which is a right thing to do, because if the truth is not told there should be hard penalties due to the fact that a rule from the code of conduct will have been broken, so telling the truth is a promise that journalist make and have to fulfill to its audience. Frost, (2011) Claims that “if keeping a promise means telling a lie, or if telling the truth might put lives at risk or informing the public about what they deserve to know means invading someone’s privacy, then there are other factors that need to be taken into account”. It is appropriate for an individual to say that journalism is definitely a profession not a job that needs basic skills that anyone can obtain from people around field like a craft, because a well organised and special training should be arranged, attended and completed.

If journalism was a craft, one could get along without Journalism schools or courses, individuals would not need to graduate from journalism in order to be able to write and publish a story or news. (Meyer, 1976) “When Niemen foundation was established in 1938, journalists were basically finders and transports of information”. There is a shift now in journalism, journalism has shifted from journalist looking out for news to them being processors of news, which is enough to present newsworthy information to people. Journalists are taught the principles on how to write a lead, theories on writing not just a lead but a professional and good lead, there are established courses on the processes, effects of mass communication, the science of collecting, analysing and drawing references from the data provided to them. Hence journalism can never be regarded as a craft because one do not need just skills but also an understanding on the process and theories of journalism.

4.      Conclusion

Journalism is a professional that takes three years to complete a degree in it, hence it cannot be craft or even fall under the classification of craft duties. From the above mentioned facts on the profession of journalism it is appropriate for one to draw a conclusion by stating that journalism is a profession.

5.      Bibliography

1.    Clear, A., ed., 2011. DYNAMICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AND JOURNALISM. In: A practical guide for media studies. claremont: Juta, p. 10.

2.    Frost, C., 2011. JOURNALISM ETHICS AND REGULATION. 3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson.

3.    Merriam, 2012. webster. [Online]
Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com
[Accessed 20 February 2014].

4.    Meyer, P., 1976. [Online]
[Accessed 20 February 2014].

5.    Niles, R., 2007. for mckinley elementary pasadena. [Online]
Available at: http://www.robertniles.com
[Accessed 14 february 2014].

6. South African Oxford School Dictionary. 2004. 2^nd ed.Cape Town. Oxford University press.