1. +
The Elements of
Journalism
What role does journalism play within our society
and the world we live in?

2. +
The Elements of Journalism
 The primary purpose of journalism is to provide citizens
with the information they need to be free and self-
governing.
 The news media helps us to define our community.
 It helps us create a common knowledge and language rooted
in reality.
 It helps a community identify it’s goals, heroes and villains.
 The real meaning of the 1st Amendment means that
journalism must be an independent institution.

3. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth.
 Our primary duty is to get the facts right.
 News is the material that people use to learn and think about
the world beyond themselves.
 Because of this, the information must be usable and reliable.
 For truth to prevail, journalists must make clear to whom they
owe their first loyalty.

4. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalism’s first loyalty is to citizens.
 This gave birth to the phrase “journalistic independence.”
 Consumers know that the restaurant review they are reading
was not influenced by that same restaurant's ad in the paper,
online or on their broadcast.
 Because of this, journalists must maintain ethical guidelines
by not accepting gifts, etc. by those whom they cover.

5. +
The Elements of Journalism
 The essence of journalism is a discipline of verification.
 All your life your parents have told you, “We love you.”
 Two things; 1) How do you know they love you? 2)How do
you know they are your parents?
 Journalism alone is focused on getting what happened down
right.
 A journalist is someone who steps away from the table and
tries to see it all.

6. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalists must maintain an independence from those
they cover.
 We move in their world but it is THEIR world.
 Conflict of interest: when a journalist covers a story about an
event, place, person, etc. in which they are personally
involved.
 This independence is even more important when you
consider…

7. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalists must serve as an independent monitor of
power.
 Watergate – 1972 – President Nixon is caught involved in a
break-in of the Democratic National Committee and resigns
as president.
 More than just government, it extends to all powerful
institutions in society.
 Journalism gives voice to the voiceless.

8. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalism must provide a forum for public criticism and
comment.
 Journalism serves as a public forum, a place for the sharing
of information, ideas and the debate of those ideas.
 This comes in the form of letters to the editor, phone forums,
guest columnists, etc.
 This forum must adhere to all other principles and relate to
the role journalism plays in a democracy.

9. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalists must make the significant relevant and
interesting.
 There is no such thing as a boring story, there are only boring
reporters.
 Journalists are storytellers, with a purpose.

10. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalists should keep the news in proportion and make
it comprehensive.
 A front page story that is fun and interesting but by no
reasonable definition contains anything significant is a
distortion.
 Consumers should ask:
1. Can we see the whole community in the coverage?
2. Do I see myself?
3. Does the report include a fair mix of what most people
would consider either interesting or significant.

11. +
The Elements of Journalism
 Journalists have an obligation to personal conscience.
 Every journalist must have a sense of personal ethics and
responsibility – a moral compass.
 They must recognize a personal obligation to disagree with
editors, owners, advertisers, and even citizens.