Journalist
A
journalist is a person who practises
journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people.
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 the sources for their work, their reports can be either spoken or written, and they are generally expected to report in the most
objective and
unbiased way to serve the public good.
Depending on the context, the term
journalist also includes various types of
editors and visual journalists, such as
photographers,
graphic artists, and
page designers.
In the early
19th century,
journalist simply meant someone who wrote for journals, such as
Charles Dickens in his early career. In the past century it has come to mean a writer for newspapers and magazines as well.
Many people consider
journalist interchangeable with
reporter, a person who gathers information and creates a written report, or story. However, this overlooks many other types of journalists, including columnists, leader writers,
photographers, editorial designers, and sub-editors (British) or
copy editors (American). The only major distinction is that designers, writers and art directors who work exclusively on advertising material - that is, material in which the content is shaped by the person buying the ad, rather than the publication - are not considered journalists.
Regardless of medium, the term
journalist carries a connotation or expectation of professionalism in reporting, with consideration for truth, fairness, balance, decency and
ethics - although standards can vary widely between publications. Some mass-market newspaper make no pretence of impartiality, though in countries such as the UK they generally adhere to an industry-wide code of conduct. Some editors argue that lack of bias is impossible to achieve, so it is in fact more honest to adopt an editorial opinion whilst ensuring that material is factually accurate
*
Joseph Addison - wrote many of the finest pieces in Steele's publications (
1713-
1714),
The Monitor (
1714),
The Manufacturer (1719-21),
The Commentator (
1720) and
The Director (
1720-
1721)
*
Daniel Defoe - as editor of the
Review, he can claim to have invented many of the most popular formats, including the eye-witness report, the travel piece and the strongly opinionated column. Defoe's
Review began publication on
February 19,
1704, and lasted until June 11,
1713. He was also involved in several other periodicals, including
The Master Mercury (1704),
Mercator: or, Commerce Retrieved*
Richard Steele - founded and edited London-based periodicals including
The Guardian and
The Spectator in the early
1700s.
*
Nellie Bly (
1865-
1922) -
undercover reporter*
William Cowper Brann (
1855-
1898) - colorful editor of the
Iconoclast in
Waco, Texas*
Samuel Taylor Coleridge - political essayist,
poet, and reporter
*
Charles Dickens (
1812-
1870) - started as a
shorthand writer logging debates in the courts and
Houses of Parliament before becoming a Parliamentary journalist
*
Henry Dunckley (
1823-
1896), editor of
Manchester Examiner and Times*
Pierce Egan (
1772-
1849) - early
sportswriter and reporter on popular culture
*
Rudyard Kipling (
1865-
1936) - newspaper editor and correspondent in India
*
Thomas Power O'Connor (
1848-
1929) - editor of the Star, the Weekly Sun, the Sun, M.A.P. and T.P.'s Weekly.
*
Jacob Riis (1849-
1914) - journalist and slum reformer
*
Anne Newport Royall - crusading reporter, author, newspaper publisher, first journalist to publish an interview with a sitting US President
*
George Augustus Henry Sala (
1828-
1895) - editor and columnist
*
Adams (
1871-
1958) - American investigative journalist
*
Jack Anderson - considered one of the fathers of
investigative reporting*
Benigno Aquino, Jr. - journalist, war correspondent, Philippine Senator and National Hero.
*
Pierre Berton (
1920-
2004) -- colourful
Klondike-born vocal
Canadian nationalist figure and longtime journalist, author-
historian, and broadcaster
*
Collin Brooks (1893 - 1959) journalist, broadcaster, writer, member of the Brains Trust and early Any Questions teams, right-hand-man for many years of
Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere*
Herb Caen - a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the
San Francisco Chronicle from the late
1930s until his passing in
1997*
James Cameron was a British correspondent and famed
pacifist.
*
Winston Churchill (
1874-
1965)
war correspondent in the
Second Boer War, captured by the
Boers *
Claud Cockburn (
1904-
1981) radical
Irish journalist
*
C.P. Connolly (
1863-
1935) radical American investigative journalist associated for many years with
Collier's Weekly.
*
WF Deedes - Former British cabinet minister and editor of the London-based
Daily Telegraph from
1974 to
1986*
Paul Foot (
1938-
2004)
British investigative journalist
*
Allan Fotheringham - witty and influential Canadian journalist and commentator for the
Vancouver Sun,
Maclean's Magazine and the
Globe and Mail.
*
Martha Gellhorn (
1908-
1998)
war correspondent*
Carl Gordon (
1931-
2002) - West of
Scotland based Journalist and columnist for
The Glasgow Herald*
Emily Hahn (
1905-
1997) - wrote extensively on
China*
Ernest Hemingway (
1899)-(
1961) - novelist and war journalist
*
John L. Hess (
1917-
2005) - journalist, food critic for the
New York Times*
Bruce Hutchison (
1901-
1992) - long-time editor of the
Vancouver Sun and writer/reporter for the
Winnipeg Free Press and the
Victoria Times, and editor of several books; considered the dean of
British Columbian journalists
*
Pauline Kael (
1919-
2001) - film critic for
The New Yorker*
Frederick C Klein (
1938- ) - author and sports columnist for
The Wall Street Journal*
Andrew Kopkind (
1935-
1994) - radical American journalist wrote extensively social movements in the
1960s*
Will Lang Jr. (1914-
1968) staff reporter and bureau head for
Time and
Life magazines
*
A.J. Liebling (
1904-
1963) American journalist closely associated with
The New Yorker*
Walter Lippmann (
1889-
1974)
*
Jonathan Meades*
H.L. Mencken (
1880-
1956) -
essayist, critic, and editor of
The Baltimore Sun*
Margaret Lally "Ma" Murray (
1908-
1982)- editor and co-publisher of the outspoken and colourful backcountry newspaper, the
Bridge River-Lillooet News and, later, the
Alaska Highway News*
George Orwell (
1903-
1950), reported on
poverty,
misery, and the
Spanish Civil War*
Robert Palmer (
1945-
1997) - first full-time, chief
pop music critic for
The New York Times,
Rolling Stone contributing editor
*
Daniel Pearl - acclaimed war correspondent
*
William Rees-Mogg - editor of
The Times newspaper from
1967 to
1981*
James ("Scotty") Reston (
1909-
1995), political commentator for the
New York Times*
Edward Said (
1935-
2003) - essayist,
Palestinian activist
*
Paul Saint Pierre - (
1923-present) - reporter, columnist, commentator in the Vancouver Sun and nationally across
Canada, also a long-time
Member of Parliament*
Adela Rogers St. Johns - (
1894-
1988) - American journalist, novelist, and screenwriter
*
George Seldes (
1890-
1995), American journalist, editor and publisher of
In Fact*
George Bernard Shaw - better known as a
playwright, but influential as a music writer and wrote other forms of journalism
*
Randy Shilts - reporter for
The Advocate and
San Francisco Chronicle *
Edgar Snow, pro-socialist journalist and writer, chronicled the
Chinese revolution*
Maximo V. Soliven - journalist, war correspondent, respected columnist, publisher:
Philippine Star*
I.F. Stone (
1907-
1989), investigative journalist, publisher of
I.F. Stone's Weekly*
Anna Louise Strong, pro-
socialist journalist and writer
*
Levi Vega Martinez, (
1927-
2002) costarican environmental journalist
*
Bob Woodward -
Washington Post reporter, helped uncover the
Watergate scandal of President
Richard Nixon, in a historical journalistic partnership with
Carl Bernstein; earned two
Pulitzer Prizes*
Jack Wasserman - social/celebrity and politicial columnist for the
Vancouver Sun beginning in
1949; Western Canada's equivalent to
Walter Winchell*
Gary Webb - best known for his
1996 "Dark Alliance" investigative report series, in which he posited a connection between Nicaraguan Contras, the US military, and crack cocaine distribution in American cities
*
Walter Winchell (
1897-
1972), American political columnist, radio broadcaster
*
Jeremy Paxman, Legendary television journalist, interviewer and 'interrogator' for BBC Newsnight
*
Patrice Barrat, a journalist and documentary producer; best known for investigating on globalization and major regional and international conflicts
*
Lowell Bergman, a television producer for the
CBS news magazine
60 Minutes; best known for investigating the tobacco industry (played by
Al Pacino in the film
The Insider)
*
David Brinkley, television anchor and interview show host on the American networks
ABC and
NBC*
Tom Brokaw, television journalist and former anchor and managing editor of
The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw*
Tony Burman, editor in chief of
CBC, the Canadian national
public broadcaster; serves as an editorial policy-maker in Canada
*
Deborah Byrd, creator and lead producer of the daily
Earth & Sky science radio series.
*
Vernon Corea, a pioneering radio journalist and announcer with
Radio Ceylon/
SLBC and the
BBC*
Walter Cronkite, former
United Press correspondent,
TV anchor for
CBS News in the
50s,
60s*
Bob Edwards, anchor of
Morning Edition on
National Public Radio from
1979-
2004*
Amy Goodman, anchor of
Democracy Now on Pacifica radio
*
Abraham Gubler, a television producer, magazine editor, journalist and broadcaster; best known for coverage of
Iraq War*
Peter Jennings, television anchor for ABC
*
Jim Lehrer, anchor of
The Newshour with Jim Lehrer*
Dan Rather, succeeded Cronkite as managing editor and primary anchor of the
CBS Evening News*
Edward R. Murrow,
CBS News radio correspondent in
London Blitz, maker of
TV documentaries, noted interviewer (played by
David Strathairn in the film
Good Night, and Good Luck)
*
Bill O'Reilly, anchor of
The O'Reilly Factor on FoxNews
*
Sorious Samura,
CNN TV documentary maker from
Sierra Leone*
Shepard Smith, anchor of
The Fox Report on Fox News
* Fritz Spiegl, popularizer of classical music for the BBC
* Greta Van Susteren, anchor of On the Record with Greta Van Susteren
on Fox News
* Brian Williams, succeeded Brokaw as managing editor and anchor of The NBC Nightly News''
*
Katie CurickIn recent years the numbers of journalists publishing only on the Internet, as opposed to print or broadcast journalists whose work also appears online, has grown enormously. Some of the best-known include:
*
Matt Drudge - The first famous Internet-only journalist for his work around scandals of the
Clinton administration, in the United States.
*
Richard Menta - Editor at MP3 Newswire and MP3.com
There are many examples of journalists who made their mark writing fiction or other non-journalism, including:
*
Collin Brooks (1893 - 1959) journalist, broadcaster, writer, produced over 50 assorted books ranging from economics and legal issues to novels and detective fiction
*
Anthony Burgess, who wrote vast quantities of reviews and was famously fired as literary critic of the
Yorkshire Post*
Amanda Craig, who writes satirical novels about English society
*
Joan Didion*
Frederick Forsyth*
David Gates, who wrote about books and music for
Newsweek*
Graham Greene who worked originally as sub-editor on
The Times*
Carl Hiaasen, who writes about the corruption and glitter of
Miami and
Miami Beach, which he also covered as a reporter.
*
Ernest Hemingway*
Arturo Pérez Reverte and
Manuel Leguineche were war correspondents before becoming successful
Spanish novelists.
*
Susan Sontag*
Calvin Trillin, who has written several humorous novels
*
Tom WolfeThe explosion of modern media, including the creation of Internet-based news sources and the possibility that
citizen journalism will greatly expand the field, has made it all but impossible to identify which journalists are notable, in the sense that they could be identified in the past. The global justice protests in Seattle (1999) gave rise to the independent media movement, exemplified by the
Indymedia Media Center network, a collective of independent media organizations and hundreds of journalists offering grassroots, non-corporate coverage. Indymedia is a democratic media outlet for the creation of progressive, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth.
*
Canadian Journalists for Free Expression*
Copy editor*
Editor*
Foreign correspondent*
International Freedom of Expression Exchange - monitors attacks on journalists
*
Inverted pyramid - generally accepted method for composing a news story
*
Investigative journalist*
Journalism awards*
Journalism scandals*
Journalism school*
j-school*
Lists of authors*
Muckraker*
Newsroom*
Objectivity (journalism)*
Reporters sans frontières (Reporters Without Borders)
*
Scientific journalist*
Society of Professional Journalists - US
professional organization*
Sportswriter*
War correspondent*
CyberJournalist.net*
Canadian Association of Journalists*
International Federation of Journalists*
National Union of Journalists (UK)&(ROI)*
Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance (Australia)*
Journalism.org: The Online Home of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Committee of Concerned Journalists*
Investigative Reporters and Editors*
JournalistID International Database*
Committee to Protect Journalists*
Columbia School of Journalism*
The Investigative Guide to Internet Research*
"The write stuff".
The Age. March 21, 2005. Two reasons for being a journalist:
curiosity and love of
writing.
*
What Makes a Journalist? - March 5, 2005 article in support of blogging as a form of journalism.
*
Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion, Columbia Law & Journalism Forum, April 7, 2005
