“Journalists see journalism as a kind of professional priesthood in which they, much like the clergy or even police officers, surrender to the higher calling of serving others” (Willis 13). If you talk to any journalist, they will tell you that their career is a profession while others will say it’s a specialized craft. Coming from a journalism student, it seems biased to say that it is indeed a profession. However, studying both sides saying that it is a profession and the other saying it’s a craft, the arguments for profession spoke stronger than those who say it’s a craft.
Journalism is a profession. Not only does it serve to present information for citizens to act for themselves, but it serves as an additional check on the power of the government. Historian Thomas Carlyle said, “[T]he British press was a powerful, unofficial branch of government, as important as the priesthood the aristocracy, and the House of Commons” (Carlyle 147). Many journalists in a free society consider the press to be a “fourth branch” of government, standing as the watchdog for the government and society. Recognizing its place and the impact it has on millions of lives, journalism takes on a serious role in the world. It is the press that makes everything known and keeps most items of business under control.
Journalism is a profession because its traditional practices have been passed onto any hopeful intern entering into the news business. “A journalist learns what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior from other journalists who learned it from other journalists, etc . . .the term ‘professional priesthood’ has been applied to the journalism profession by many people over many years” (Willis 15). Journalism is a profession because it has standard guidelines and ethics that must be adhered to in the field. If journalism was a craft, people would take too much liberty in areas that don’t allow much interpretation. The reason why journalistic practices have been passed on is because those practices have made journalism effective in societies.
Journalism is a profession because they do their best to separate themselves from others in the community, more so than other businesses. “Our reporting and writing can be intimate, but we can still maintain an appropriate distance from our sources. The simple equation is to remember our obligation to the reader, to fair, honest, truthful, and complete in our work. Those old values are still good values” (Bhatia, The Oregonian). This idea definitely makes journalism a profession because this characteristic is unique to other businesses. No other business I know of tries to separate themselves from the community. Businesses try often to get in touch with their community but journalists have to “remove” themselves and their biases to perform well in their career.
Some questions popped up: How can a journalist fully understand what an event, issue, or person is really like if he or she constructs and maintains a distance in between? On the other hand, if the journalist gets too close to the story and the people of it, the danger of losing a more “objective” orientation could threaten. True, this is not an easy thing to accomplish or master. That is why journalists train for years, intern and gain hands-on experience, and graduate with degrees because it is a profession that takes creativity and practice but follows guidelines.
Journalism is profession because:
· It serves an additional check on the government and people
· It is practice where guidelines are enforced and follows an ethical code
· It is the only profession that separates itself from getting too involved in a community. A rare characteristic found in any business
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