I guess people could take what Journalism is in many different ways. Wikipedia considers it as such; “Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues, and trends to a broad audience. Although there is much variation within journalism, the ideal is to inform the citizenry. Besides covering organizations and institutions such as government and business, journalism also covers cultural aspects of society such as arts and entertainment. The field includes jobs such as editing, photojournalism, and documentary.”
While I try never to use Wikipedia as a reliable source, I was interested in seeing how the general public (those who care to edit articles on Wikipedia, more specifically) decided to view journalism. I agree with a few of the points made, but I think it goes much deeper than that as well.
Journalism means more to me than the average person. Obviously that makes sense, since I am choosing to devote my life and career to it. I care about truth. I care about knowing whats going on, especially when it affects me. I care about having every detail and piece of information in a given story or situation so that I can form my own opinion fully.
To me, that's what a journalist is supposed to do; provide the general public with the information needed for them to form their own developed opinions with all of the given facts and points of what is going on, whether specific or general, in the world.
Ever since I was young I have been a curious person. Being a journalist really has been my destiny. I was always the kid on the playground who knew everything. Who would talk to people to figure out every last side of a story, usually about petty fights at school etc. As I matured and found out more about what really mattered, I decided to be more interested and concerned about the things going on in the world around me. I got into student government and became involved in my community very young so that I could always stay up to date on information.
Journalism is about not only being curious, but wanting to share the information you know with the world. Its about feeling like what you're doing can benefit others. In this ever changing world, its all about what you know. The more education and knowledge you have, the more respected and important you can become in society. My goal is to be not only a reporter, but a great one. I want to be known for telling the truth and going out and finding and reporting correct and needed information. I want to help people become educated in what's going on in the world around them so that our nation can be more aware of rising issues and growing problems in our society.
Journalism is seeking out truth and reporting it to all those who will listen. Its about keeping our country informed and updated with the information they need to make choices for themselves. Its keeping our country free.
Everyone will have their own meaning of journalism. But that's mine.
--Kim
