Journalist facts for kids

A television reporter holding a microphone.

A journalist is a person who works in journalism to report the news. They may work on their own ("freelance") or for a newspaper, a radio or television programme. There are different kinds of journalists.

A reporter is a type of journalist who researches, writes, and reports information. Newspaper reporters write news articles and stories for newspapers. They write these articles and stories by interviewing people, asking questions, and doing research.

Newspaper reporters must tell the truth when they write newspaper articles. Telling the truth is a very important part of all journalism jobs, including newspaper reporting, television news reporting, and radio news reporting. If people who work in journalism do not tell the truth in their articles or stories, they can be punished such as being suspended (do not work for a short time) or fired (losing their jobs).

However, frequently news does show bias.

Dangers

A reporter for Radio Azadi interviews a citizen in Afghanistan 2009

Journalists sometimes expose themselves to danger, especially when reporting in areas of armed conflict or in places that do not respect the freedom of the press. Organizations such as Reporters Without Borders publish reports on press freedom and advocate for press freedom. The Committee to Protect Journalists has reported that as of 1 December 2010, 145 journalists were imprisoned around the world for reporting the news. Current numbers are even higher. The ten countries with the most journalists currently imprisoned are Turkey (95), China (34), Iran (34), Eritrea (17), Burma (13), Uzbekistan (six), Vietnam (five), Cuba (four), Ethiopia (four), and Sudan (three).

Terms

There are many different types of jobs in journalism.

• A columnist is someone who writes their opinions and point of view for a newspaper or magazine.
• A correspondent is a journalist who reports from a distant location. They report for a newspaper, or radio or television station, whose staff is based in another location. A foreign correspondent is a correspondent who reports news from another country.

A correspondent reporting for German news about the conflict in Cyprus

• A fact checker is the person who checks that the facts written in news reports are indeed correct.
• A news presenter, or anchor, is someone who presents news during a news program.
• A photojournalist is a journalist who takes photographs in order to tell a news story.
• A Political commentator is a journalist who takes a non-objective viewpoint a discussion.

Related pages

• Critic
• Aaron Brown

Images for kids

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  A program director sets the task for TV journalists, 1998.

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  Journalist interviews a cosplayer, 2012.

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  Official tastes the water of a new well in front of journalists in Mogadishu, Somalia, 2014.

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  Cameraman and journalist who interviews a person in Austria

See also

In Spanish: Periodista para niños