If it quacks like a journalist, walks like a journalist…
So what defines a “journalist”? That’s an important question
because there are some instances where journalists get preferential
treatment over citizens: waived fees for FOIA requests, shield law
protection in most states, access to crime scenes and press boxes, etc.
I’m not sure I personally feel good about that, but that’s the
reality. This week the Reporter Committee’s The News Media & The Law
dedicated its issue to defining a journalist.
The old definition of “journalist” in many cases was basically
anyone who was paid to report news for a mainstream newspaper or TV
station. That’s changing now as more people are doing journalism for
free online (perhaps because they are no longer paid to report for a
newspaper or TV station). That means we are moving toward a
“function-based” definition of journalism. It isn’t WHO you
work for, but WHAT you do. If you commit acts of journalism, then
you’re a journalist.
So what defines a “journalist”? That’s an important question
because there are some instances where journalists get preferential
treatment over citizens: waived fees for FOIA requests, shield law
protection in most states, access to crime scenes and press boxes, etc.
I’m not sure I personally feel good about that, but that’s the
reality. This week the Reporter Committee’s The News Media & The Law
dedicated its issue to defining a journalist.
The old definition of “journalist” in many cases was basically
anyone who was paid to report news for a mainstream newspaper or TV
station. That’s changing now as more people are doing journalism for
free online (perhaps because they are no longer paid to report for a
newspaper or TV station). That means we are moving toward a
“function-based” definition of journalism. It isn’t WHO you
work for, but WHAT you do. If you commit acts of journalism, then
you’re a journalist.
