Relevance in Journalism

Relevance in journalism is a concept that refers to the audience’s level of interest in a story. The role of a journalist is to select stories that will matter to people. The journalist usually works on the assumption that truth matters to people, which is what separates a news station from magazines. The journalist has a responsibility to inform citizens about what is happening but must be selective about which events are the most important. The journalist must have a strong ability to write stories in ways that grab the audience’s attention. According to the Nieman Report, http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/102547/Journalists-Must-Make-the-Significant-Interesting-and-Relevant.aspx journalists have a responsibility to make their stories relevant. Reporters also face this dilemma “With news organizations convinced that ever-shortening attention spans require ever-shorter stories, it is difficult for a reporter to get the space and time necessary to tell a story right....” that we must fight against the remote (changing the channel). That is why it is important for journalists to make a connection with the audience, so that the audience feels appreciated and will form a loyalty with the news station that reports what they want to hear. This article also agrees that journalists must be relevant. http://allafrica.com/stories/201105230214.html The Parliamentary Assembly has a Code of Ethics that also submits that journalists must be relevant in their stories.

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Comprehensive and Proportional Journalism

Comprehensive journalism can be defined as journalism that includes all perspective and sides of a story. Proportional journalism can be defined as journalism that is researched according to its news importance. Comprehensive journalism is a type of journalism that uses thorough research methods that incorporate different angles of the same story. Building a comprehensive type of journalism is central to reporting according to the National Press Photographers Association, http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html and states in the Code of Ethics that it is one of the primary responsibilities of a journalist. In order to report the “truth” a journalist must gather enough facts to present a realistic story, it must be comprehensive. The news must be kept proportional according to http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles in order to protect the truth. Keeping the news proportional means that all events must be portrayed as they are and specific elements should not be exaggerated to emphasize certain points. If facts are not represented as they exist in real life then it will give the story bias and will not be as credible. This blogspot author Everett http://everettshell.blogspot.com/2010/04/comprehensive-and-proportional.html says that readers want an emotional story, not an emotional journalist. Journalists have a duty to the truth and in order to be truthful they must have two elements in their reporting: comprehensive material and proportional events.

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Journalism and Faith

Every journalist is responsible to the ethics of the news company and their own personal belief system. A large part of my personal belief system is my religious beliefs. Much of the way I think is influenced by the teachings of my religion, as may be true for many other reporters. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KGdPbd5wRI It is important to understand the boundary between church and state though so that religion is addressed appropriately. Religion is a personal preference and has a lot of emotional attachment for many people. These two factors demand that religious topics are discussed with discretion and with constructive points, supported by research. Religion is a “hot topic” in the public forum and a journalist must exercise extreme caution and tact when writing stories of a religious nature. Some articles address ways that religious topics should be handled in different types of reporting like this article http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat and state that there is no “right” approach to religious subjects, but rather is a matter of expressing different opinions in a tasteful way. The Witherspoon Institute addresses the ability to report on religion as a fundamental constitutional right http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2010/09/1717 and states “The kind of journalism that tracks our religious life is so important because journalism is the profession where two of our defining freedoms meet.” 

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