The Emerald Handbook of Modern Information Management by James M. Matarazzo Toby Pearlstein

Author:James M. Matarazzo,Toby Pearlstein
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781787149618
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Published: 2017-12-14T00:00:00+00:00

Image 3:. Google Scholar results for American political scientist Robert Pape, taken May 27, 2017. Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.

Knowledge-Based Journalism

Traditional journalism has been structured around “beats” or focused areas of coverage in which a reporter is immersed in the geography or subject areas of their assignment. Over time, they develop an understanding of an industry or coverage area, entities that are connected to it, and eventually earn the trust of sources within the beat who are willing to speak to them. Eventually professional, skilled journalists become adept at moving from one beat to another. Many of them become authorities on these topics, eventually sharing their accumulated body of knowledge in the form of books or other long-form journalism or through lectures at universities.

The economics of information and disaggregation of online media have led to more specialized reporting about niche industries and topics, sometimes with an eye toward advertisers or sponsorship opportunities. Some publishers have experimented with having a true subject expert, such as an academic or a physician or a scientist, whose discipline requires advanced degrees and education, contribute on a semi-regular basis. While more journalists possess advanced degrees and some in another discipline such as business, law or science, many are generalists. Daily journalism has a highly demanding production schedule, pressures on its advertiser and subscription-based business models, and many more job applicants for a smaller number of openings.

On the other hand, internships, a prerequisite in most fields and a requirement in media, are numerous and have increasingly become a de-facto replacement for the full-time employee.13 While internships permit a valuable immersive experience in journalism, associated disadvantages stemming from lack of information literacy are significant, as a less-experienced journalist does not have the knowledge base, sources, research base nor facility with specialized vocabulary for search terms. While this is to be expected with a young person just beginning their career, critics counter that the lack of knowledge-based writers leaves the novice susceptible to manipulation, and fall short of putting issues into context for a rigorous analysis. “Without a working knowledge of the subject at hand, journalists are … vulnerable to the experts from which they seek information, quotes, and story leads”14 wrote Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press, Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, in his 2013 book, wholly devoted to this concern, “Informing the News: the Need for Knowledge-Based Reporting.”15

Journalism has become more sophisticated in many ways, with the development of data-based journalism leading to a semblance of scientific inquiry and a quest for empirical evidence. Once a rarity, more organizations are producing original investigations, even collaborating and seeking grant funding for extensive projects.

As with any form of information, an article should be assessed for originality, depth, context, and sourcing, if not exclusive to the organization that published it.

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