Academia vs. Journalism

I have spent the last 5 years writing, primarily, for academic purposes. Now that I am in this class I find that writing for the mass media is very different. When I write my articles for this class I have to remember to keep everything simple. All of those big, fancy words that I learned are useless for this. Since it reaches a large audience it is important that it is easy to understand. Brevity is another part of journalistic writing that is different. Paragraphs and sentences are supposed to be as short as possible.

When writing anything it is important to be aware of the audience. The audience for academic papers is completely different to a journalistic audience. Therefore, the writing should be treated differently.

Journalistic Writing vs. Academic Writing

Although journalistic writing and academic writing are extremely different in word usage, sentence structure and format, for me, the biggest difference between these two forms is audience. Yes, in journalism your word choice needs to be more accessible. Yes, the sentence structure is longer in academic writing. And yes, the formatting of even the smallest piece is entirely different, with an abundance of rules. But these are all about writing for your audience.

In journalistic writing the author is writing for a broad base. Depending on where the piece is published this could mean it needs to be accessible cross-generationally, cross-culturally, and so on. But academic writing is for a much smaller audience. For most of us this is simply a teacher. And we are usually writing to impress, not to connect or inform.

Academic and Journalistic

Academic and Journalistic writing, to me, seem to be on complete opposite spectrum from one another. Academically we have always been taught to use a large vocabulary and to write long elegant sentences that are complex in nature and even confuse ourselves when we read our own papers. I remember writing papers and reading through them afterward and thinking how nonsensical it seemed to be. I would have to say I much prefer writing in a journalistic style. The sentences are concise and clear. They don't deal with unnecessary items that are there just to make one's writing more impressive. Journalistic writing just gets straight to the point without all the extra stuff. People wouldn't like to sit down and read an article from a newspaper that looks as if it has been written by James Joyce. People want things to be easier for them. That's why journalistic writing has to be different. The reader has to be able to understand.

Journalistic Writing vs. Academic Writing

One of the rules I have struggled with the most while learning to write journalistically is keeping it simple. My first major was professional writing, and even though I have since switched to Broadcast Journalism, I would still love to write a book when I am older. I would definitely say I have more of a “novelist” style of writing, so learning to write in a simpler form has been a challenge for me. In high school, it seems like our teachers encourage us to expand our vocabulary and express it in our writing for essays and research papers. Is this because it makes us sound more intelligent or do they just enjoy seeing the random words we pull out of a thesaurus that probably don’t make any sense whatsoever?

I feel like my journalistic writing is improving, but it is definitely not perfect. I had never really realized that journalists keep it as simple as possible, because I never paid much attention to the structure and word usage of newspaper articles when I skimmed through them, but now that I am experiencing journalistic writing, it definitely makes more sense to keep it simple rather than trip up our readers with complicated words and sentence structures.

Should we be pretentious or elementary?

Journalistic and academic are practically opposites.

We are taught to write academically all throughout our high school education. We are told to write elegantly and express our ideas though word choices that would seem pretentious to the average person. In academic writing we emphasize the credibility and authority our sources, while in journalistic writing we want what they had to say to be emphasized.

Writing journalistically on the other hand, is intended to convey information to large quantities of people. This requires us as journalists to use more simple sentence structures and choose words that are commonly understood.

Basically, academic writing is created primarily, if not exclusively, for the educated. While journalism is intended for mass communication; informing the largest amount of people possible.

Journalistic Writers vs. Academic

When writing journalistically the writer writes in short sentences making them as simple as possible. Journalist wants their work to be clear, precise, modest and efficient. When writing academically writers tend to want to use big impressive words. Journalist need to refrain from doing that because the audience for their work is broader and they don’t know how intelligent the audience is. Academic writers also use longer paragraphs with sometimes pages of information. That is also one thing journalist try and stay away from because they want to not bore the reader and keep their attention on the story. All in all it is pretty clear that journalistic writers are different from academic writer.

Journalistic vs. Academic Writing

Journalistic versus academic writing is like short versus long, respectively. Journalism looks for short sentences that are to the point, where academic writing requires long, complex, smart sounding sentences to fill up papers that have a much longer length requirement then there should be. While the english language has a lot of rules in itself, the journalistic writing style takes it to a whole new level. There are so many rules in writing for the media that I was not aware until recently that they were rules. They are little nitpicky rules that I despise. People are going to understand what you are saying if you say it well. Changing Senator to Sen. is not going to change the message, though I understand the need for consistency among media professionals. Those are the two main differences: the rules and the length.

Journalistic/Academic Writing

Writing for the media, in journalistic style is much different than how we are taught to write academically. I thought I was a great writer because I have a decent vocabulary and I can use big words over and over until all that the reader is aware of is that I have a seemingly large vocabulary. I found out fast that it is almost the complete opposite in news style writing. The whole point of news writing is for the reader to understand what is written and to get to the point briefly and clearly. Academic style writing is pretty much pointless to most audiences. If the reader has to look up every other word in the sentence, chances are they are lost and on to the next thing that they can understand. The most annoying place that I have found academic style writing is in text books. The whole point of a text book is to be a clear reference for you to look at and learn from, so why the unnecessary wordy writing?

Differences in writing journalistically and academically

Writing journalistically is very different from writing academically. Ever since elementary school, I was always told to elaborate my stories to make them sound better. I am so used to writing long papers so it was hard for me to transition into writing for mass media. Taking this class and reading the books that we bought tells you to make your writings short and sweet to get across effectively for the audience. You don’t know who is listening, watching or reading so you have to make sure it gets to all different education levels because you do not want to lose your viewer.

Differences between Academic Writing and Journalistic Writing

The differences between writing academically and writing journalistically are innumerous. The largest problem I have faced is to transition from writing eloquently and with great detail to writing for brevity. In journalistic writing the ultimate goal is to get the information across as quickly as possible. I’m used to writing 10-15 page papers, which require wordiness and detail and oftentimes “fluff.” The opposite is required for journalistic writing, which requires simple vocabulary and just the need-to-know information. In academic writing we try to convey to the reader that we understand the subject and we try to come up with original ideas. In journalistic writing the point is to write as objectively as possible and to let the readers come up with their own ideas.

Journalism v. Academic

The differences of journalistic writing are largely dependent on the audience. When writing academically, you write for colleagues, and professors, people attuned with the subject and fancy language. You’re supposed to have flow and style as well as voice. An opinion on the subject as well as a concept of how to use language to enhance the writing.

Journalistic writing, involves making entries short and sweet. Writing for journalism involves writing for the mass audience, which includes multiple demographics and education levels. The reader in this case is naïve, and words need to be concise and simple. No erroneous usages of language, or long drawn out sentences. Brief and detached. That’s the main differences between the two. Otherwise, they share a lot of the same roots. If anything, the differences are less than the similarities.

Writing Journalistically vs. Writing Academically

Writing Journalistically is almost a total switch from academic writing. Because I am taking an Composition II class, I’ve been constantly thinking “Does this rule apply to JMC or English?” It’s been a massive switch from writing from a college level, to writing at an 8^th grade level as the Stovall book says media writers should be writing at.

Also, unlike literary or academic writing, Journalism requires much more literal usage of words. Such as “comprised of” cannot necessarily mean how it would in an English essay. Also, I wordiness is a sin, which is a total opposite of the academic standpoint. The shorter is now the better.

Journalistic Writing vs. Academic Writing

When trying to write journalistically, one has to almost forget everything they've been taught about how to write academically.
The goal of the writing is the same, tell the audience what they want to know. However, in academic writing, the goal is to tell a teacher or professor that you understand the material and can write better than a monkey. While journalistic writing is aimed at dispersing information to the masses without attracting attention to the writing itself.
These are done in very different ways: academic writing uses larger words than are necessary and is often required to be longer than the normal person can actually write in order to appease a teacher, and journalistic writing uses the briefest language possible and is often required to be shorter than the normal person can actually condense it naturally in order to fit it into the format of a newspaper.
Clearly, the biggest way that journalistic writing is different from academic writing due to the kind of language required for both.

Sensitivity in writing

Writing about different cultures and communities can often be challenging because there is so much pressure to be politically correct. There are so many terms that can be used to describe these communities that it gets confusing. I am not sure whether I am allowed to call someone black or if I have to say African American. I also don’t know whether I can call someone gay or if I have to say homosexual. These groups are often verbally attacked in the media.  Attacks like these have led to the firing of many prominent media personalities.  It is something that needs to be taken carefully. We need to be respectful of these different cultures.

Southern Poverty Law Center

The SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center) was founded in 1971 by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. It is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. The SPLC is based in Montgomery, Ala., which is the birthplace of the modern civil rights movement, and has offices in Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, Fla. and Jackson, Miss.

The lawsuits won by the SPLC have brought institutional racism in the south to an end, bankrupted some of the nation's most violent white supremacist groups and won justice for exploited workers, abused prison inmates, disabled children and other victims of discrimination.

The organization has an innovative Teaching Tolerance program that distributes free films, books and lesson plans. The program is working to foster school environments that are inclusive and nurturing. The SPLC hopes that the Teaching Tolerance program will instill acceptance and tolerance within future generations. Learning these qualities from an early age will hopefully end the systematic racism and bigotry that plagues our nation.

The SPLC monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and exposes their activities to law enforcement agencies, the media and the public. They share their findings online and in the Intelligence Report, which is the organization's award winning journal.

The SPLC and the work it does are crucial to all media professionals. It is a journalist's job to remain informed on issues that affect the large majority of people and the SPLC makes it easy for media professionals to follow their work. They keep the media and the public informed on the steps they are taking to improve the world we live in.

Sensitivity in News

I personally believe it is nearly impossible to be respectful to everyone out there. And unless something is blatantly disrespectful to someone, I do not think it is such a big deal. If you use the word 'mailman' instead of 'mail person' or 'mail professional', someone is probably going to get offended, which I believe to be ridiculous. Needing to be so careful in your language that there is a entire book of rules just about words is something that shouldn't need to exist. I think that the rules that govern AP style writing are far to strict and regulated. I will follow them because they are important to the profession that I am trying to be in, but I much prefer the freedom of the blog, where grammar, word choice and comma usage, are not as big of a deal.

Asian American Journalists Association

The AAJA(Asian American Journalists Association) is a group that was founded in 1981. They are a non profit organization based out of San Francisco that has many goals in the journalism industry, one of them being encouraging young people to pursue careers in the Journalism field. They promote "fair and accurate news coverage," along with diversity in the media. The AAJA is partners with many other diversity based journalism foundations like the National Association of Black Journalists.

The AAJA offers many programs both to professionals already in the field of journalism, and students trying to get a career in journalism. Not only do they offer many workshops and programs, the AAJA has internships and scholarships for students, and awards for journalists already in the field.

The AAJA is an important organization because of all of the people it is associated with. The organization covers a extremely large amount of people.

"AAJA uses the term 'Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders' to embrace all Americans--both citizens and residents -- who self-identify with one or more of the three dozen nationalities and ethnic groups in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific Islands."

This is a very large amount of people that live in America and need to be represented respectfully. They have a whole continent of people that they need to make sure are portrayed accurately and respectfully in the American news media. This is a large responsibility for a non profit organization.

Sensitivity in Writing

It is becoming harder and harder in writing today to distinguish what is proper compared to what is improper. It is the writer’s job to decide what they believe is appropriate to use while they are writing. Nowadays it is becoming harder because more and more people will find things that they will find offensive. It is up to the writer to know what is socially acceptable and what is not. They need to realize who will be offended by what. Some groups of people may not find something inappropriate, although another group may find it to be incredibly offensive. The writer needs to keep themselves aware of what each group will find offensive and in their writing try not to make any comment that could be seem as demeaning to any group of people.

Association for Women in Communications

The mission statement for the Association for Women in Communications reads, "The Association for Women in Communications is a professional association that champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by recognizing excellence, promoting leadership and positioning its members at the forefront of the evolving communications era.

This group has become incredibly important to women who have careers or wish to begin careers in a media field. They strongly look to try and promote the advancement of women in all fields mainly in the field of media and communications. The women of this group work strongly towards making sure that their rights and the rights of all media professionals are still protected by the law of the first amendment. They find it their duty to recognize those outstanding individuals that who have distinguished professional standards in the department of communication and make sure that there is no bias when these outstanding individuals are chosen. The AWC annually gives out awards that helps promote the excellence in communications. The AWC has a national committee which helps to make decisions on several different fronts. One of the most prominent things that they do is give out the Clarion Awards. These awards are given out to both men and women. The Clarion Awards recognize excellence in 100 different fields of communication and are a highly sought after awards. These awards recognize men and women in large and small businesses and are something the AWC does that promotes excellence in media without just having women that can win.

journalistic vs academic style

Journalistic writing is very different to academic writing. When writing novels, short stories or papers for English class; I was taught to be descriptive and use many elements of writing, such as metaphors and hyperboles. In academic writing, it is typical to be wordy and use many elements to get the point across. Journalistic writing, however, is the opposite of descriptive. It requires you to be brief and to the point instead of explaining everything in full depth. It is a strange transition to come from high school where all we did in English class was academic writing to this class where it is all journalistic writing. I have had to practice saying things in less words and avoid using redundant or unnecessary words.

Sensitivity and Respect

As media professionals, it is our duty to to be sensitive to all cultures and communities in our writing. We must understand that people from all walks of life and from all cultures will most likely see or read our work in the media. In order to prevent bringing offense to anyone we must have respect for all cultures. It is sometimes difficult to do this, especially when we don't particularly understand the culture we are addressing or writing about. In these instances, it is our responsibility as journalists to use sensitive language and to gain at least a general understanding of the group we are dealing with.

Language Sensitivity

The challenge of using language with sensitivity and respect for those of different cultures and communities is that no matter who you are you are not a member of every community or culture, and therefore are not aware of the customs and colloquialisms of every culture. It is imperative that all media professionals make a concerted effort to use respectful language towards all cultures. Not just in respect for basic human decency, but for professionalism. Mistakes will be made, we are all simply human, but a mistake can be forgiven by effort. We cannot pretend to know or understand every culture that surrounds us, but we can all try to be respectful. It is our obligations as media professionals and as human beings.

The American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a non-profit established to defend the constitutional rights of American citizens. Beyond acting as the protectorate, the umbrella between citizens and the government, the ACLU is devoted to extending rights to people traditionally discriminated against. This includes people of color, women, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, prisoners, and people with disabilities.

The ACLU is important to all mass media professionals because it represents the legal frontline of our right to free speech, guaranteed us in the First Amendment. Without this legal protection our profession could not exist in the same capacity it does today. The United States was founded as a nation on the certain inalienable rights. The media represents our citizen’s right to free expression, to know what is happening in their world, and as a whistleblower for when our government oversteps its boundaries or fails to live up to its responsibilities. The ACLU is the muscle behind these rights, the ever-present boogieman to the overzealous bureaucrats. For all of the corrupt politicians, policymakers, and lobbyists out there who have quashed their conscience, their sense of civic duty, the ACLU is the organization that fights back.

language sensitivity

Language sensitivity in writing for the mass media is used to create a safe and comfortable place for all audiences of different races, genders and disabilities. I have never had a problem with this in my writing experience because I have always been taught to write formally. I can see how it may become an issue in news writing because it is so informal and there are many times that we are needed to make a reference to a minority in news stories. I find it hard to remember how each group prefers to be referred to. As media professionals, we have to be very careful to make sure not to use any references that would offend anyone.

The National Center on Disability and Journalism

I researched the National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ). Its goal is to give journalists support when they cover people with disabilities. The group’s headquarters is at Arizona State University in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. The NCDJ does not have a certain point of view. The group is concerned with the accuracy, fairness and diversity in the news coverage. Many reporters find the website helpful for information and ideas. The website includes a blog, disability news, disability organizations, disability resource list, disability style guide, NCDJ advisory board, NCDJ staff, history of NCDJ, spread the word, tip sheets for reporters, contact information and how to join NCDJ. The disability news is for people to get the latest news and see journalist’s latest work. The link, disability organizations, has a list of different organizations with a description of what the group is all about. The disability resource list shows groups and a description about them. The disability style guide has groups and a description about what they are and do. The NCDJ advisory board serves as a source of support and helps with the center’s course. The link has a picture of each person on the board and a biography about them. The NCDJ staff link shows the coordinator and research assistant and has a biography about each person. The history of NCDJ link gives us information about how the group got started. The tip sheets for reporters link gives additional links for reporters so they can give the best information.

National Association of Hispanic Journalists

National Association

of Hispanic Journalists

by Michael McLaughlin

“The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) is dedicated to the recognition and professional advancement of Hispanics in the news industry. Established in April 1984, NAHJ created a national voice and unified vision for all Hispanic journalists.”

-National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ mission statement

For Students

The Nationals Association of Hispanic Journalists, in search of its mission statement, provides many benefits to hispanic college students. The benefits for NAHJ members include scholarship, travel, and networking opportunities.

“NAHJ will once again offer $80,000 in scholarships for the 2011-2012 school year to full-time undergraduate and graduate students pursuing careers in journalism in English- or Spanish-language media, or both,” the organization’s website states.

In addition to the scholarships NAHJ offers its members, the organization provides students with much needed internship opportunities. Among the possible internship location include a NBC fellowship in New York City.

The benefits do not stop there. Students have the access of networking with NAHJ’s existing 2,300 members online, all over the United States.

For Media Professionals

The NAHJ is not only for college students, the organization is beneficial for media professionals as well. The organizations hosts workshops and conferences designed to keep its members on the cutting edge of journalism. NAHJ members have access to career fairs, La Plaza NAHJ (official networking site), and a job search database.

For Hispanics

For the hispanic community at large, the NAHJ is dedicated to helping hispanic college students and media professionals succeed. They seek to have a positive impact on this generation of hispanics through the many benefits they provide, and impose change that will be seen throughout the 21st century.