Reporting vs. Journalism

Reporting vs. Journalism

What ever happened to reporting? When I was a child, there were certain teachers who would teach the children who, what, when, where, why and how. Somewhere around the 3^rd or 4^th grade I had it down. Who, what, when, where, why, how. At that age, I was required to write about facts using facts. How hard can it be? Is it too easy? Who, what, when, where, why, how.

          One paragraph! A single paragraph! Just one paragraph! Ask who, what, when, where, why, how. Get answers to these simple questions. Then write about whatever the topic is using the facts you just obtained. One paragraph? Yes, a single paragraph is all it takes to describe the reporter’s job.

          It is too easy. It doesn’t require much. 1) ask who, what, when, where, why, how; 2) report in writing.

          Now that we know about reporting, how does it differ from journalism? What is a journal? When I was in high school, a journal was a notebook wherein I wrote my impressions of what had gone on, my desires about what I would like to happen and my desires as to what I do not want to happen. It was a place for me to write my impressions and opinions. In college, a journal was still what a journal was in high school. In grad school, a journal was the same thing it was in high school and college. Interestingly, in college and grad school, I got graded on my journal (my opinions). I was not a journalism student.

          Here we see the first glaring difference between reporting and journalism. Reporting requires one to ask who, what, when, why, how and then write about those facts. Journalism is all about the writer and requires no facts.

          Secondly, there are the endings attached to each word: reportING and journalISM. The ending ing indicates something is being accomplished in accordance with a set process. The ending ism indicates a belief system or ideology as in Maoism or Stalinism. This indicates the desire for certain and specific outcomes based on nothing but personal opinion or top-down narrative.

          Thirdly, reporting is neutral in its process. Journalism sets out with a certain outcome in mind. Reporting offers information, journalism fits information in to the daily jigsaw narrative.

          All this explains why great journalists need college degrees and why the best reporting can be found in 3^rd grade classrooms. Apparently, journalism schools exist to indoctrinate people into the correct set of opinions (the politically correct ones) and the need to journal only that which the narrative of the day requires. It cannot be an ism without the underlying, daily narrative creating/servicing and unbending belief system dedicated to an Ideology.