A
journalist gathers and disseminates
information about current events, people, trends, and issues. Their work is known as
journalism.
Reporters are one type of journalist. They create reports as a profession for broadcast or publication in
mass media such as
newspapers,
television,
radio,
magazines,
documentary film, and the
Internet. Reporters find sources for their work, their reports can be either spoken or written, and they are often expected to report in the most
objective and
unbiased way to serve the public good. A
columnist is a journalist who writes pieces that appear regularly in newspapers or magazines.
Depending on the context, the term
journalist also includes various types of
editors and visual journalists, such as
photographers,
graphic artists, and
page designers.
Journalists put the information in their own words, making it creative in their own way so it will catch the reader's or viewer's attention.
Ethics in journalism
Some journalists in the United States adhere to the standards and norms expressed in the
Society of Professional Journalists ethical code.
Foremost in the minds of most practicing journalists is the issue of maintaining
credibility, "Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility."
Journalist prison census
According to the 2008 prison census by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the world's biggest jailers of journalists are:
The Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists publish reports on press freedom and organize campaigns. See also
