Kinds of Journalism: The Classification

Someone queried me once whether ‘blogging’ can be considered among the kinds of “Journalism,” even if just “somewhat like Journalism.” My answer is this: It depends on what you are blogging or writing about in the first place: Is the blog a hard, entirely fact-based, relevant public interest issue, researched and investigated and up-to-date information?
 

And then there is the ‘economic’ factor: An individual who engages in citizen Journalism on blog platforms cannot be a Journalist anymore than a paid, real-time, full-time professional Journalist cannot be called a “citizen journalist.”

New technologies have birthed various classifications of Journalism (which are at best whimsical, though) which are in turn defining their purpose. For instance (I am told) there is so-called “fashion Journalism”, “trend Journalism” and even “online Journalism” as someone claimed during an Interaction I had with him once.

To put it simply to underplay the prospect of confusing students of Journalism, there are two broad classifications of Journalism – and relatively, Journalists – according to the nature of platforms that are employed to disseminate information (I am of old-school Journalism though, mind you): 

• Print Journalism (newspapers or new magazines for instance) and
• Electronic (Audio/Visual) Journalism

(Electronic Journalism is also known by its more generic term ‘New Media Journalism’)

Newspapers, magazines and even journals fall within the domain of Print Journalism. Electronic Journalism encompasses multi-media platforms such as Television, Radio and the Internet media. There are newspapers and magazines that maintain web editions as well as those that have only web editions or say a corporate television channel to cater only to select audience, for instance web-users or broadcast audiences. 

Different Types of Journalism 

So naturally, the types of Journalists are consonant with the several more that of Journalism aside from the more-fundamental News Journalism; the “subsidiaries” of ‘News Journalism’ now equally cover the cultural and artistic dimensions of an organized society (for instance, arts and entertainment, fashion and food and travel). That is the reason various types of journalistic institutions exists across the globe (aside from the more fundamental News Journalism). 

The New York Times’ writers’ website about.com lists the various types of contemporary Journalism:

• Business and Finance journalism +
  
• Environmental journalism
  
• Citizen Journalism
• Sports journalism  
• Investigative journalism
• ‘Photo Journalism’*
• Celebrity Journalism + and
  
• Fashion journalism +

+ Business and Finance journalism, Celebrity Journalism and Fashion Journalism are three of the highest-earning media professions in the world, particularly in the West and Europe where even journalists in the two beats with even 2 years experience usually earn in 6 figures a month.

* The increased interest in the fine arts has also birthed the industry of what has rapidly gained mainstream recognition as Photo Journalism.

Globalization compelled the new industry into engaging technology to not only tide competition but also to make information more accessible to the end-user. 

The diffusion of focus from traditional news peddling in the face of emerging user-technologies in the 21st century is a convenient panache for the young. It is a career that the youth’s vocational goals find almost ‘full’ fulfillment; the now almost-unlimited opportunities: fulfilling social aspirations, fame and adventure, working for society and people, challenges and high earnings.

I shall be writing more on the aspect of classification in Journalism.

Al Ngullie
The Morung Express, India

©2012 Journalism Jobs Guide
 
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