Writing about Journalism/Communication
Journalism has a variety of different types of writing—from scholarly and academic research
writing to reporting and other practical writing. Each type of writing has its own audience as well
as its own style to best connect with that audience. Research papers are generally geared to
scholars, professors, and students. New reports and articles for print or the web are geared to the
publication’s readers, which can be as general as the public at large or as specific as outdoor
enthusiasts, for example.
TYPES OF WRITING
● Research Papers
o scholarly analysis about the practice or theory of journalism (ethical
questions, effect on audience, legal issues, etc.)
● News stories
o timely, fact-based articles, typically found in newspapers or online news
sites
o written in the inverted pyramid format (i.e., important information first)
● Magazine/Weekly articles
o less formal than newspaper articles
o length, style and content vary according to the publication
● Editorials/Columns
o opinion pieces
● Reviews
o critical evaluations of film, music product, dance, theatre performance, art
installation, video games, etc.
TYPES OF EVIDENCE
● Primary sources
o information straight from a source (interviews, original documents, etc.)
● Secondary sources
o information or facts that come from journals, news reports, and other
sources gathered from primary evidence
o secondary sources should be avoided if possible and always fact-checked
against at least three other sources
WRITING CONVENTIONS
•
Research papers
o formal tone, style, and language expected
o use of first-person acceptable
writingcenter.appstate.edu
828-262-3144
[email protected]
Updated 02/2014
•
News stories
o straightforward, objective, third-person point of view
o written in present tense
o answer the Five Ws (who, what, where, when, and why)
o avoid use of slang or jargon
•
Magazine/weekly and editorial/column articles
o first-person is acceptable depending on the publication
o written in present tense
o conversation and informal language (including slang) can be acceptable
depending on the publication
•
Online/Web articles
o length is typically shorter
o line break between paragraphs without indentation
o shorter paragraphs
CITATION STYLE AND STYLE GUIDES
•
•
•
MLA (for academic papers)
Associated Press Stylebook
The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
NOTE: Because mass communication research is interdisciplinary, research papers about
journalism generally conform to the style of each discipline. For example, studies about media
effects that target psychology journals often use APA style; studies about the history of
journalism often use Chicago; studies about journalism and the law adhere to Blue Book style,
and so on. Most commercial publications have their own in-house style guides, which often
work better for their audiences, content, etc.
***
Source
"Journalism and Journalistic Writing." Purdue OWL. 2013. Purdue OnlineWriting Lab. Web.
writingcenter.appstate.edu
828-262-3144
[email protected]
Updated 02/2014