Journalist

A journalist is a person whose community activity is the Journalisme.

This activity can be practiced in various forms according to the function which the journalist occupies. One speaks about writer for the journalist who writes press articles, of Reporter when it brings back facts in the objective of informing the public, of critical Chroniqueur or when its articles are specialized in a particular field (dramatic, musical, of art), of leader-writer (or of billetist ) if it must propose his opinion or that of his drafting, etc

The work of the journalist mainly consists in collecting information on an event of the topicality or a particular subject (by consulting the dispatches of the news agencies, by questioning specialists or witnesses, and while resting on different sources), and writing articles or publishing Reportage S (written, audio, photo or video) in a Journal or a Magazine, in an emission of radio or Télévision, on Internet or in others Médias of mass.

A journalist can be paid of a company of press, working within the drafting or like press correspondent, or be Pigiste, i.e. paid with the task (often, in proportion to the length of the provided articles).

The facts that a journalist pays to the public are carrying direction, for example in the field of the Politique, the economy or the Culture. That confers a capacity to the journalists (of which the profession is often described as fourth capacity , by allusion to the three capacities constitutional) in the process of the formation of the opinion and in the influence which the revelation of these facts can have in decision makings of this public.

History

See also: Chronology of the history of the press

The journalistic profession gradually evolved/moved to become an community activity recognized at the end of the 19th century.

One finds in the history several testimonys of an equivalent activity. In the Scandinavian Mythology, for example, the corbels Hugin and Munin sat on the shoulders of the god Odin and the news of the world tells him.

In 2007 approximately 37000 people hold the French business card (what supposes to draw from it more half of its incomes).

Teaching

For reasons of constitutional freedom (according to the countries), no diploma is required, but in general, it is necessary to follow two years of academic works and to make Stage S.

In theory, it is requested from the journalist to be aware of his social responsibilities and policies with respect to the company (criterion of Déontologie), to have a logical and analytical thought, to have creativity like having the direction of the human contacts. However the general-purpose journalists tend to becoming less and less numerous. Technical training is more and more often necessary (when they are not required), because of the increasing complexity of the covered subjects. The journalists intervening on “pointed” subjects such as sciences, especially in the press general practitioner, seldom have substantial formation on these subjects; a journalist must then have a capacity to include/understand and retranscribe in understandable terms by the greatest number “difficult” information a priori, so that it does not remain not held for a circle of initiates.

Belgium

Bosnia-Herzégovine

  • School of journalism of the Mediaplan institute: Sarajevo

Bulgaria

  • FJCM (Faculty of journalism and communication of mass): Sofia

Canada

This list is incomplete.

  • Department of information and communication, Laval University: Quebec (Quebec)

  • Department of journalism, Concordia University: Montreal (Quebec)
  • Department of journalism within the School of the Media, University from Quebec in Montreal: Montreal (Quebec)

France

The definition of the professional journalist according to the law (1935 and 1974):

" The professional journalist is that which has as an occupation principal, regular and remunerated the exercise of its profession in one or more daily or periodic publications or one or more news agencies and which draws the main thing from it from its resources.
the correspondent, whom he works on the French territory or abroad, is a professional journalist if he receives fixed salaries and meets the conditions envisaged in the preceding paragraph.
is compared to the professional journalists the direct collaborators of the drafting:
writer-translators, shorthand writer-writers, writer-revisers, reporters-draftsmen, reporters-photographers, other than the publicity agents and all those which do not bring, with an unspecified title, which an occasional collaboration.
Any convention by which a press company ensures itself, realizing remuneration, the assistance of a professional journalist within the meaning of the first subparagraph of this article is supposed to be a work contract. This presumption remains whatever the mode and the amount of remuneration as well as the qualification given to convention by the parties."

More, the Brachard report/ratio written in 1935 " in the name of the commission of work charged to examine the private bill of Mr. Henri Guernut and several of his colleagues relating to the professional statute of the journalistes".

Recognized formations:

In France, the access to journalism is not subordinated to obtaining a precise diploma. However, the national Collective agreement of work of the journalists affirms “the interest of the contracting parties for professional training and wishes that the beginners receive an mainstream education and technique as complete as possible”.

This way, the fact of having satisfied the one of the formations recognized by the profession - and to be titular diploma of end of studies - decreases by half the duration of the training course by two years necessary to reach the titular statute of journalist.

Here a list of the 12 formations recognized by the profession (by the National union of the journalists):

Morocco

  • Institute of higher learning of Information and Communication (ISIC - Reduction) official site

Swiss

In French-speaking Switzerland, the journalist-trainees are engaged during two years near media while following nine weeks of formal training to the French Center of training of journalists (CRFJ). The trainees pass then an examination of end of training course. In addition, at the end of two years of journalistic practice, the candidates journalists obtain RP (professional register) which makes them professional journalists.

Tunisia

  • IPSI (Institute of press and information sciences): Tunis, IPSI

Work

Abroad, in the difficult zones, a “fixer”, a translator aide-de-camp, are the essential interface with the population. However, this intermediary can become a target of the belligerents which can regard it as a “traitor”.

With the cinema

The cinema often introduced journalists to work. It is the case in following films:

  • in France

- Paparazzi , of Jacques Rozier (1964), the Heir , of Philippe Labro (1972), Death on line , of Bertrand Tavernier (1980), Thousand billion dollars , Henri Verneuil (1982), the Fourth capacity , of Serge Leroy (1985), Paparazzi , of Alain Berbérian (1998)…

  • in the United States

- Citizen Kane , of Orson Welles (1941), the Pit with the dreams , of Billy Wilder (1951), the Great blackmail , of Alexander Mackendrick (1957), Because of an assassination , Alan J. Pakula (1974), Profession: to defer , with Michelangelo Antonioni (1975), the men of the President , Alan J. Pakula (1976), the Devil gets dressed in Prada with David Frankel (2006).

With reading

  • new world disorder of information , by Henri Pigeat (Hatchet, 1987);

  • Propaganda , by Jacques Ellul (Economica, 1990);
  • TF1, a capacity , by Pierre Péan and Christophe Nick (Beech, 1997);
  • journalism without sorrow , by Michel-Antoine Burnier and Patrick Rambaud (Plon, 1997);
  • the new watchdogs , by Serge Halimi (Liber-reasons to act, 1998);
  • On television , by Pierre Bourdieu (Reasons to act, 1996);
  • the police force of the thought - white propaganda and new world order , by Gerard Larnac (Harmattan, 2001).

Special sphere of activities

Corresponding - To defer - Journalist to defer images - Critical - Serial ist - Leader-writer - Videojournaliste - Draftsman of press - Editor association - Sub-editor - Billetiste

See too

Simple: Journalist

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