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THE ROLE OF THE

JOURNALIST
Journalism basics
The Role Of The Journalist

 To inform the public debate so that the audience

can make educated choices

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The Role Of The Journalist

 To deliver facts ...

 Verified
 Attributed
 Sourced
 Tested
 That’s all....
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The Role Of The Journalist

To find stories that...

 Had it not been for you,

the world would never
have known.

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The Role Of The Journalist

 Simple questions

 Who?
 What ?
 Why ?
 When ?
 How ?

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The Role Of The Journalist

 Uncovering information that had it not been for

you, the world would never have known

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Why be a journalist?
What is our role?
Why be a journalist?

 The desire to write

 You are not there to impress your audience but to serve
their needs

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Why be a journalist?

 The desire to influence for good

 Some journalists want to be servants of the people and
information channels
 Some want to be public interpreters of events

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Why be a journalist?

 The desire for knowledge

 Curiosity is a vital ingredient
for any journalist
 Most journalists tend to know
a little bit about a lot of
things, rather than a lot about
one subject.

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Why be a journalist?
What does it take?
Why be a journalist?

 An interest in life
 You must be interested in the
world around you
 You must want to find things
out and share your
discoveries with your readers
or listeners
 You should have a broad
range of interests
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Why be a journalist?

 Love of language
 You cannot be a great
journalist without having a
love of language
 You must understand the
meaning and flow of words
and enjoy using them

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Why be a journalist?
The mind of a journalist
Why be a journalist?

 Alert and ordered

 People trust journalists with
facts.
 You must not be careless with
them.
 All journalists must aim for
accuracy.
 Without it you will lose trust,
readers and ultimately your
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Why be a journalist?

 Suspicious mind
 You will be given information
for many reasons
 You must develop the ability
to recognise when you are
being given false information

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Why be a journalist?

 Determination
 You often have to ask hard
questions and risk upsetting
people
 Be polite, however rude
people may be, but be
persistent

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Why be a journalist?

 Polite
 You need to be able to get
on well with all sorts of
people.
 You cannot pick and choose
who to interview in the way
you choose friends.

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Why be a journalist?

 Honest
 Be there when you say you
will
 Only report what you know
to be true
 Never lie to your
 Never lie to the public

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What is a journalist?

Using some material from The News Manual

 The module uses

material from The News
Manual
 Media Helping Media
has been given
permission to publish
edited highlights of
some basic training
modules
http://www.thenewsmanual.net/

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Media Helping Media
The source of the following material in this module