Journalism changes overtime to accommodate different technology and ways of getting information to the public. It’s the job of journalism schools and students to include this in their education.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, journalism is “… the collection, preparation, and distribution of news and related commentary and feature materials through such media as pamphlets, newsletters, newspapers, magazines, radio, motion pictures, television, books, blogs, webcasts, podcasts, and e-mail.”
Journalism is continually evolving to meet the needs of its audience. The list of media the Encyclopedia Britannica described above has changed over the years, but would have once started and ended with “newspaper.”
Early History
The media in the Gold Coast, now Ghana first emerged in the 19th century with the publication of The Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligencer in 1822. In the mid-19th century, a diverse number of African-owned papers appeared that were largely unrestricted by the colonial government. This led to a surge of independent press, which in part led to the independence of Ghana. Colonial Governor Sir Arnold Hodson introduced the first radio channel, named Radio ZOY, in 1935. Its main use was to spread propaganda to gain support of the colonies. Following the 7 March 1957 declaration of independence by Ghana from the United Kingdom, there were only around four newspapers.
What is journalism today?
The answer to “what is journalism?” In 1690 was easy: a newspaper. With the rise of technology, the answer today is more nuanced. It’s still the research and dissemination of news to the public. But you can’t just print it in a newspaper and call it a day. There are so many ways that news can be disseminated that it can be overwhelming for international students to choose which branch of journalism to study. It is also difficult for journalism schools to develop curricula that cover it all.
In a nutshell, the art of journalism requires an aptitude for perceiving, scoring out and reporting the major happenings around, concerning all classes of people as well as an inclination for interpreting and giving an interesting shape to news.
Reference
Ahuja, B.N. and Chhabra, S.S. ,2008, Principles and Techniques of Journalism, SURJEET PUBLICATIONS, India.
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