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[Professionals and Practitioners in Communication]

Professionals and Practitioners in

Communication
At the end of the topic the students should be able to:
1. Define the roles, functions and competencies of communicators and
journalists;
2. Define areas of specialization in which communicators and journalist
work;
3. Describe career opportunities of communicators and journalists;
4. Explain the rights, responsibilities, and accountabilities of
communicators and journalists; and
5. Discuss the code of ethics of communicators and journalists.
The discipline of communication is populated by a wide variety of
professionals who are in communication practice. They are creative artists,
writers, editors, journalist, bloggers, educators, social advocates, business
men and businesswomen, preachers, scientists, politicians, and news
announcers and anchors. These professionals are bind together by a desire
and dive to send and receive messages and make an impact on their
audience. Because communication is the most natural thing for humans,
these professionals specialize to serve the general public and the publics of
their choices. They operate with a wide variety of mediums and media,

Defining the Roles, Functions, and Competencies of Communicators and

Journalists
Role of Communicators and Journalists
1. To make available information and evidence to inform the public
about issues that matter to them in the most neutral way possible.
2. They provide facts for the public to form judgment and decisions.
3. They facilitate accurate processing and analysis of such facts in a
professional and ethical way.

Functions of Communicators and Journalists

1. To collect and document information, facts and opinions, and present
them for public analysis and deepening to the root of reality.
2. To communicate is to deliver truth and facts.
3. They gather news, facts and information that are critical to public life
and wellbeing

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 Competencies of Communicators and Journalists
1. They need have listening, reading, writing, and speaking skills.
2. Listening and reading are data and information gathering skills
necessary for accurate writing and speaking.
3. Writing and speaking skills are necessary for communication as tools.
Poor writing and speaking skills can distort the message regardless of
te good intentions of the communicator.

Areas of Specialization
Communicators and journalists can work in a number of areas of
specialization
1. Advertising
2. Speech writing and taking minutes of a meeting
3. Marketing
4. Sales
5. Communication education
6. Electronic media
7. Radio television
8. Broadcasting
9. Public relations
10. Journalism
11. Theater
12. Performing arts
13. Dramatic arts
14. Public communication and opinion management and negotiations

The specialization can be:

1. Copy writing
2. Production directing
3. Professional blogging
4. Communication education
5. Language arts coordination
6. Forensic and debate coaching
7. Drama directing
8. Film and tape librarian
9. News editing
10. News directing
11. News anchoring
12. Transmitter engineering
13. Technical directing
14. Field reporting
15. News editing
16. News casting
17. Author
18. Copywriting
19. Script writing
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[Professionals and Practitioners in Communication]

20. Publishing
21. News service research
22. Technical writing
23. Acquisition editing
24. Interviewing

Career Opportunities for Communicators and Journalists

Alberts, Nakayama, and Martin (2007) presents as follows:
1. Speech writers
2. Press secretary
3. Public information officer
4. Public affairs specialist
5. Communication assistant
6. Meetings secretary
7. Customer service representative
8. Marketing assistant or officer
9. Advertising
10. Sales assistant and account executive
11. Research associate
12. Operations manager

Rights, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities of Communicators and

Journalists
The rights, responsibilities, and accountabilities have to be established to
safeguard the integrity of media and protection of the general public in form
of accountability.
In the name of freedom of expression, abuses happen and certain aspects
remain largely unaccountable. Accountability is a necessity for
communicators and journalists.
It is also part of the responsibility of communicators and journalist to ensure
that citizens are able to originate content and contribute to media content,
and not just remain passive consumers of media output.
Communicators and journalists have rights, responsibilities, and
accountabilities to exercise and live by and which must provide guarantees
against censorship and protection of freedom of expression, safeguarding the
confidentiality of journalistic sources, and ensuring that information held by
the government can be timely and easily accessed by the public.
It is a responsibility of communicators and journalists to ensure that citizens
have convenient access to all media which is subject to just and fair law and
universally recognized principles of human rights.

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Code of Ethics of Communicators and Journalists
The NUJ's code of conduct has set out the main principles of UK and Irish
journalism since 1936. The code is part of the rules of our union.
All journalists joining the NUJ have to sign up and agree they will strive to
adhere to its professional principles.
We encourage people to read and support the code of conduct and we ask
members to promote it in the media industry.
A journalist:
1. At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom,
the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be
informed.
2. Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly
conveyed, accurate and fair.
3. Does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies.
4. Differentiates between fact and opinion.
5. Obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with
the exception of investigations that are both overwhelmingly in
the public interest and which involve evidence that cannot be
obtained by straightforward means.
6. Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or
distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public
interest.
7. Protects the identity of sources who supply information in
confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work.
8. Resists threats or any other inducements to influence, distort or
suppress information and takes no unfair personal advantage of
information gained in the course of her/his duties before the
information is public knowledge.
9. Produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on
the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal
status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
10. Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by
advertisement any commercial product or service save for the
promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he
is employed.
11. A journalist shall normally seek the consent of an appropriate
adult when interviewing or photographing a child for a story
about her/his welfare.
12. Avoids plagiarism.
Further, the United Nations, Parliamentary Assembly issued Resolution 428
(1970), containing a declaration on mass communication media and human
rights. They outlined some measures to secure responsibility of the press and
other mass media as follows.
It is the duty of the press and other mass media to discharge their functions
with a sense of responsibility toward the community and toward the
individual citizens. For this purpose, it is desirable to institute (where not
already done):
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[Professionals and Practitioners in Communication]

1. Professional training for journalists under the responsibility of

editors and journalists;
2. A professional code of ethics for journalists; this should cover,
inter alia, such matters as accurate and well-balanced reporting,
rectification of inaccurate information and comments, avoidance
of calumny, respect for privacy, respect for the right to a fair trial
as guaranteed by Article 6 of the European Convention on Human
Rights; and
3. Press councils empowered to investigate and even to censure
instances of unprofessional conduct with a view to the exercising
of self-control by the press itself.

Glossary
Communication Educators – are educators that can work as college or
university professors, and may also serve as a speech communication
department chairpersons, language arts coordinators, elementary and high
school speech teachers, forensic and debate coaches, or drama directors.
Communicators – are person who are expert in communication
Journalists – are person who are expert in the field of journalism
Journalism – a person who can work as a reporter, editor, newscaster,
author, copy writer, script writer, publisher, news service researcher,
technical writer, acquisition editor, and interviewer.

References
Dela Cruz, A. et al. (2017), Disciplines and ideas in Social Sciences (Padayon)
Series) Rex Book Store, Inc.
Mendoza, D.J. et al., (2016), Discipline and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences,
Phoenix Publishing House.
Sampa, E.M. (2017) Discipline and Ideas in Applied Social Science, Rex
Bookstore, Inc. First Edtion.
Tatel, C.P. (2017) Discipline and Ideas in Applied Social Sciences, Rex Book
Store, Inc. First Edition.

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