The handbook of journalism studies pdf download

The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Mass Atrocity, and Genocide explores the many and sometimes complicated ways in which religion, faith, doctrine, and practic. The Routledge Handbook of Religious Naturalism. Ecological crisis is being widely discussed in society today and therefore, the subject of religious naturalism has emerged as a major topic in religion.

The Ro. This substantially revised second edition of The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in the Study of Religion remains the only comprehensive survey in Englis. It sometimes helps to share your challenges with colleagues. You may sometimes get a different perspective. A colleague may have gone down that trail before, and may be in a position to give you some tips and hints. Achampong Effective Interviewing Skills I nterviewing is a very important part of journalism.

It is often a primary source of information, whether it be for news production or in-depth topics. Some consider interviewing to be an art. Certainly, it is not a highly theoretical topic but rather a skill that develops with practice and experience. Following are fundamental techniques and tips for successful interviews.

Preparing the interview Choosing a topic To perform proper interviews, one must first pick an appropriate topic and familiarize oneself with the subject. One also needs to choose an angle to the topic. Choosing whom to interview The better you know your topic, the easier it will be to choose an appropriate person to interview.

Not knowing your topic in enough depth may leave a bad impression on your guest. The impact of the interview depends on whom you interview and who will be listening to the interview. Let's imagine a radio program about the Chorkor smoker, aimed at fishing populations. It would be much wiser to interview some fisher folk who have used the technique than to interview a foreign technical expert.

On the other hand, imagine a story about the government budget, aimed at educated urban listeners. The closer your receiver feels to the interviewee, the more the interview will arouse their interest. There are of course exceptions. Certain topics require interviewing people directly involved with the event.

This generally shows interest in the topic and will be appreciated. Planning the interview Once your interview is set up, you need to prepare your questions and notes. Examples: Closed-ended: Do you think that this event is significant? Open-ended: What do you think is the significance of this event?

That is, if you are interviewing for the daily news, ask only as many questions as you reasonably need to have material for editing. Asking 25 questions and using only one may annoy your source and she may be reluctant to agree to further interviews.

Your questionnaire is just a guide. Be ready to ask questions that arise from your interviewee's answers and which are not prepared in advance. Achampong Choose a calm, comfortable location. Noisy environments should be avoided. You should choose somewhere where you will not be interrupted at all. The interview Immediately before going to the interview, test your equipment. Better take those extra five minutes before you are with your source! Take extra batteries for your voice recorder just in case.

If you are using your smartphone, make sure you have ample memory, your phone is fully charged, and switched to flight mode to prevent unnecessary interruptions during recording. Being late conveys the impression that you are not all that interested. Also, take the time to explain the context of the interview and what you intend to do with it.

This will help your source feel at ease. This will allow you to adjust the sound levels on your recording device. Some people need more time to adjust than others. The time you spend chatting builds a link and will help ensure that you can contact the person after the interview for clarifications. Occasional nods convey interest and attention.

Everybody makes mistakes. For instance, you could tend to the recording device. Chances are your listeners will not understand either.

This is especially true for technical topics. Depending on the topic, you can also ask them to sum up what they have spoken about. On and off the record During an interview, your source may speak on and off the record. You should strictly respect this and never quote a source on something that was said off the record. Remember: you may use the information, but you cannot attribute it to the source.

A safe rule would be to never quote your source if the information hasn't been recorded. The general perception is that what is on tape is on the record and what isn't is off the record. Other types of interviews Field interviews This type of interview is usually done on the spot of an event, be it at the scene of a news event, a live performance etc. Achampong you may not have as much time to prepare and do background research. It will help if you jot down some questions before the interview but you will need to improvise more.

Man on the street interviews are usually very short - one, maybe two questions at most. This type of interview is often used to get the feel of public opinion on a particular topic and eventually inserted in a larger story. Your question must be open-ended. Phone interviews This type of interview differs in that you do not have visual contact with the source being interviewed.

You therefore need to try and compensate using voice only. Since this type of interview can be stopped at any moment, it is better to prioritize questions. This is the point where you comb through what you have and carefully sift through the chaff.

There must be one thing on your mind: due diligence. Due diligence is the discipline of verification. It refers to the exercise of voluntarily but compulsively investigating any claims that may seem off, checking new facts, and going over a checklist to ensure that you have followed a process of sort to minimize error and opinion.

Characteristics of News: Stripping Bias and Opinion Journalism is a craft, and needs to be learnt the hard way. To excel, you need to be a good craftsman. You should know how to structure a news report, how to write a headline and how to make news pages. In order not to reinvent the wheel, years of practice have isolated certain qualities that characterize news.

By ensuring that your story has these characteristics, you go through the process of due diligence and strip the story of your own personal bias and opinion along the way. These and many more may be used to exorcise prejudice. Besides, they ensure that the resulting reports meet industry standards.

This may mean calling a person late at night to get his side of the story or even holding back an investigative piece for a day. But you must do so. This is the best way to bring balance in the copy. There may be times when an individual may avoid making a statement. In such a case, state the point, indicating the efforts you made to get their point of view.

Remember that your news report is going to be read by hundreds of people, and you can influence their thinking by using loaded words. It is always best to use neutral words. Accuracy This is the first requirement of a good news report. You must get all your facts right, starting from the name and designation of the subject to the statements made by them.

You cannot hide behind the excuse that there was not enough time to cross-check the facts. In case it is an accident you must know the exact number of people who were injured or killed. It should not be misinterpreted to imply another meaning. Achampong Attribution All news reports, with a few exceptions, must be sourced. The source can be identified as follows: a. Individual: An individual, who witnessed an accident or survived an earthquake, can be quoted by name as an eyewitness.

Organization: A spokesperson authorized by an organization to brief the media on its behalf. Anonymous sources: There are occasions when a news source, who happens to be a senior government official or an important leader, does not want his or her name to be used. However, the reporter must know the source well, and should trust that the information provided is correct.

Exceptions: The reporter need not worry about attribution in those cases that he has witnessed. For instance, the reporter can report a football match or a political rally stating what happened.

This is because these are statements of fact that have occurred in public domain, and have been witnessed by scores of people. The same applies to the swearing in of a new government, or historical facts. Brevity The importance of this characteristic cannot be overstressed.

You must learn to write short stories without missing important facts. They do not have the patience to go through long news reports. Brevity does not mean merely writing a short story; it also means using short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. Clarity This is not easy to achieve. You are required to report an event in as few words as possible.

You can do this if you use short and simple words and keep out irrelevant facts. The Lead of your report must be short and crisp. The body must be made up of as few paragraphs as possible with each paragraph devoted to one point. There should be no ambiguities. The facts must be sourced, and accurate. Achampong Elements of News: Targeting Your Receiver A fter going through the discipline of verification to ensure accuracy, fairness, balance and such, a journalist must follow another rigor in the pursuit of her Receiver.

Here again, she has to check and ensure that her story has the determinants that her Receiver uses to consider what is News.

This is the way journalists are able to target and reach the end-user of their hard work. Timeliness: If it happened today—rather than yesterday—it just might be news. Journalists stress current information—stories occurring today or yesterday, not several weeks ago—and try to report it ahead of their competitors.

When reporting a story that occurred even hours earlier, journalists look for fresh angles and new details around which to build their stories. If background is necessary, they usually keep it to a minimum and weave it throughout the story Impact: If it affects readers—physically or emotionally—it just might be news. Reporters stress important information that has an impact on their Receiver: stories that affect, involve or interest thousands of readers or viewers.

If the president of Ghana catches a cold, the stock market could lose some points. The closer an event is to home, the more newsworthy it becomes: a tsunami in faraway Far East may kill thousands and destroy untold property, but it would not matter more than an accident in Konongo, Asante Region, that cost the lives of three school children.

Deviations from the normal - unexpected or unusual events, conflicts or controversies, drama or change - are more newsworthy than the commonplace. Conflict or Controversy: If somebody is struggling with a problem, it just might be news.

Two people arguing about a social issue is more newsworthy than two people who agree about that issue. The tension between the subjects creates the conflict that often makes a story dramatic and interesting to read. While conflict between groups can be viewed as negative news, it often provides readers and viewers with different opinions about policies and problems.

Relevance: Information that is relevant or that connects to people in some way is newsworthy. Some stories may be interesting and give insight into the lives of other people but may be irrelevant to the lives of viewers. The more information connects to the lives of the Receiver, the stronger its news value. Despite today's competitive pressures, news judgment should be based on impact and relevance rather than drama.

Bear in mind that relevance diminishes with distance. Achampong entertainment value in a story that is not pertinent to their lives, but in the long term the receiver will seek news sources that consistently provide relevant information. The number of people involved or affected: The more people involved in a news event, be it a demonstration or a tragic accident, the more newsworthy the story is.

Likewise, the number of people affected by the event, whether it's a new health threat or a new tax ruling, the more newsworthy the story is. Consequence: The fact that a car hit a utility pole isn't news, unless, as a consequence, power is lost throughout a city for several hours.

The fact that a computer virus found its way into a computer system might not be news until it bankrupts a business, shuts down a telephone system, or endangers lives by destroying crucial medical data at a hospital. Human interest: Human-interest stories are generally soft news.

Examples would be a beauty contest for persons with physical disability, or a person whose pet happens to be a nine-foot boa constrictor.

Human-interest angles can be found in most hard news stories. A flood will undoubtedly have many human-interest angles: a lost child reunited with its parents after two days etc. Pathos: The fact that people like to hear about the misfortunes of others can't be denied. Seeing or hearing about such things commonly elicits feelings of pity, sorrow, sympathy, and compassion. Examples are the child who is now all alone after his parents were killed in a car accident, the elderly woman who just lost her life savings to a con artist, or the blind man whose seeing-eye dog was poisoned.

Shock value and Scandals: An explosion in a factory has less shock value if it was caused by gas leak than if it was caused by a terrorist. The story of a six year-old boy who shot his mother with a revolver found in a bedside drawer has more shock and therefore news value than if same woman died of a heart attack.

Photograph by Nile Achampong In what medium do you transmit the news? In what form do you get the processed news to her? It could be straightforward news; it could be in the form of a feature. It could be a review, or an opinion piece.

A journalist — other than a freelancer — may not have the option to choose medium, but she surely can choose the form her story will eventually take. Choosing the Right Type of News Article News Reports, as we have already discussed, follow the pattern of the inverted pyramid where all the important facts are put upfront in a timely manner from an objective point of view without editorial comment.

These are found at the front of a newspaper. They inform readers about things that are happening in the world or in the local area. Features on the other hand follow no particular pattern; the most salient points may be buried towards their tail. They do not necessarily have to employ the inverted pyramid style. They are subjective pieces that carry the opinions of their authors. They are not limited to current issues; and they may run as long as the editor would permit. In some publications, features are even serialized.

Features explore news stories in more depth. Their purpose is not just to tell you what has happened, but to explore or analyze the reasons why. Achampong An Editorial is an article in a newspaper or other periodical presenting the opinion of the publisher, editor, or publication.

It does not receive a byline because it represents the opinion of the newspaper. A Review is an article critiquing an art form: movie, concert, recording, television program, book, art, restaurant etc. Columns and opinion pieces are pieces by 'personality' writers to inform because the writer's expert opinion is valued , or they might be there to entertain because the writer has a comic or interesting way of describing everyday life.

She can therefore tailor her articles to meet the styles and needs of specific organizations. She has a choice of targeting her article through the right channel to reach her Receiver. A Media channel refers to the means used to transmit a message. Examples include: radio, television, newspaper, the internet, etc. Broadcast Media There are two main forms of broadcast: television and radio.

Print Media Print media is one of the most popular industries and the reason is that it is one of the easiest ways to reach targeted readers. Print media includes magazines, newspaper, periodicals, leaflets etc. They do not have the disadvantage of transience which characterizes broadcast media. New Media New media offers greater interaction between the reporter and her Receiver. The interface online is potentially immediate and includes methods such as online messages or SMS texts, or even the rise in QR codes.

Junior Graphic and Graphic Showbiz are self-touting. Most media houses put the profiled receiver at the center of their operations and endeavor to reach her always.

Whether you operate a fashion magazine, a GHOne-type youth television, or an Akan radio such as Peace FM, it is essential to know who your receiver is. Following are some of the issues to consider when deciding who the target receiver is. Profiling Profiling is especially essential when scripting for radio. In radio, the effective approach is to write as if the news was directed at one person, say, a petty-trading semiliterate Christian single mother in Adabraka, Accra, or a something traditionalist family-head cocoa farmer in Apedwa, Eastern Region, or an unemployed something Muslim economics graduate in Asokwa, Kumasi.

Profiling and targeting are important because, obviously, whatever the nature of the story, the journalist would have to package it uniquely to reach any of these three persons above. This is essential because there are numerous angles to every story and these angles are not a one-size- fits-all as far as receivers are concerned. In writing about a government budget for instance, a journalist needs to know who her receiver is in order to know the right angle to choose for treatment. To make sense to the single mother in Adabraka, she must focus more on provisions that deal with taxation of small enterprises, social safety nets for the vulnerable in society, and assistance for small businesses.

The cocoa farmer will benefit from news about commodity pricing, assistance for cash crop farmers, and issues concerning pensions for the informal sector. For our unemployed graduate in Kumasi, the words that would resonate are jobs, further education, and career development. This understanding informs the journalist on what stories to chase, what angles to focus on, and what ways to treat them.

The public interest refers to information which the population will be better-off knowing or worse-off not knowing. This is an important issue to consider when deciding who the target receiver is and what to feed her. Will the semiliterate single mother in Adabraka, or the cocoa farmer in Apedwa, or the Muslim graduate be better off knowing the information we wish to share?

Will they be harmed if they are not given the news? Relevance A journalist has to ascertain that the news she is dishing out is one her receiver will find relevant to their life. In this age of information overload, the temptation is to inundate consumers with the latest news. The danger here is that, a terrorist bombing in London may be significant in terms of lives and property lost and geopolitics and all, but it may not be relevant to the semiliterate single mother in Adabraka, or the cocoa farmer in Apedwa.

The terrorist act becomes relevant only if the receivers have some connection with some aspect of the story. For instance, if a percentage of Adabraka residents have relatives living in London who remit money regularly, then the news will be relevant.

Profanity and Level of Language Language can isolate or embrace when deciding who the target receiver is. Music stations may select their audience merely by the kind of music they play. Similarly, newspapers and magazines can segment their readers just by the level of language they use.

Journalists must be circumspect enough to watch out for words, phrases, video and photos that may offend the sensibilities of their target receivers. Encouraging feedback Communication starts from Sender through a medium to a Receiver. For it to be effective, the process has to loop back from Receiver to Sender. This is the only way a journalist knows her job has not been fruitless.

Feedback is important not only because it ensures a regular source of news ideas to work on; it actually solidifies the relationship between the journalist-cum- media house on the one hand, and the receiver on the other.

Phone-ins, Letters to the Editor, all other forms of interactivity must be cultivated and encouraged so that the semiliterate single mother in Adabraka, the cocoa farmer in Apedwa, and the Muslim graduate in Kumasi will forever remain your listener.

That is after all the only way a journalist may preserve her work. Cynical, I know, but true. Listed are the areas where journalism most frequently comes into conflict with national criminal or civil law. This unit does not discuss the practical processes of practicing journalism except where they relate to law and ethics. UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights As well as national law codes, the media operates within an international legal framework, based on the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its various supplementary codes and conventions.

The circumstances in which governments can limit these rights are outlined in Article 29 of the Universal Declaration.

Many African countries have rules for the licensing of newspapers or broadcasters. These rules may require that the organization or its financial backers fit certain categories, or that certain financial guarantees be in place. Some countries require individual journalists to be licensed, or to have specific formal qualifications such as a degree in media studies or journalism. These rules may be well-founded, and designed to ensure that media operations are run professionally and along sound business principles.

But they need careful examination to ensure that they are not designed or used to restrict media freedom or as smokescreens for censorship. Other restrictions may exist on distribution, on the right to erect radio masts or use broadcasting frequencies, or on where lucrative advertisers such as the civil service and parastatals are allowed to place advertisements.

But equally effective as restraints on free media are lack of resources and literacy in poor communities where strong investigative stories may, for these reasons, never find a voice. Most courts recognize the concept — but what does it mean? Most certainly, it does not mean everything the public finds interesting, because that would include serious information as well as gossip, scandal and wild speculation! Achampong Common pitfalls A ll journalists need a detailed understanding of the law and how it affects their work - including defamation, contempt, copyright and privacy.

This chapter is not a comprehensive account of the law - nor should it be relied on to judge the legal aspects of a story. The Enterprise Reporter should be mindful of these common pitfalls and always take specific advice from a legal expert.

Contempt Contempt of court law applies when a journalist comments unfavorably on the proceedings of an ongoing court case. With contempt, it is irrelevant whether or not you actually intended to commit contempt.

There are various types of possible reporting restrictions, some of which apply automatically; others are at the discretion of the court. Copyright This law protects the right of a producer of an original work against unathorized use. The law protects a wide number of works such as films, literary works, artistic works, music, sound recordings and broadcasts.

Journalists need to be aware of the copyright laws to avoid potentially costly mistakes 3. An example of this last might be taking a photograph of someone reading your newspaper and using it as a promotional picture without getting a release signed for that use. But those who write about media ethics advise caution here. Where private life is irrelevant to public life a businessman has a mistress, for example — like countless other people in his community the same argument does not hold.

Thus, they should be exposed if they stray. That is our personal belief, and the courts are not necessarily going to back it. Only where the personal and the public coincide and conflict, can exposure be held to be justified. You can defame someone by publishing material in various forms and people can sue if it can be reasonably understood to be referring to them. Defamation is the crime of publishing material that could lower the reputation of a person in the eyes of others.

Achampong Defamation and the Enterprise Reporter Social media meme. Creator unknown. In some countries, defamation is a civil offence an offence committed by one individual against another ; in others it is defined as a criminal offence committed by an individual against the laws of the state.

Although damages awarded for defamation can be punitive in both cases — they have been known to close down newspapers — defining defamation as a criminal offence also means that the offending journalist risks criminal punishments, which can include imprisonment or even flogging in some countries.

Remember that many statements are capable of more than one meaning, and how readers or listeners respond may change overtime, or in different societies. The simplest way of putting it is to ask yourself: do the words make the person written about look bad? If so, it is defamation. Achampong defamatory, you need to take a reasoned decision about publishing based on all these aspects, not only the risk of a law suit.

This can be a powerful defense and also a deterrent to individuals who might sue you. If they sue you, you will present in open court evidence that they really did commit the alleged wrongdoing. More people than read the original story may read the reports of the court case. That is why many private individuals threaten to sue — but often do not do so in the end.

In dictatorial states that can manipulate the court process, however, powerful people are more likely to carry through their threats. Other possible defenses: That the defamation was unintentional rhetoric made up for the occasion. That the statement was not defamatory. This is usually limited to something no-one could possibly believe was true, such as a ridiculous cartoon image; something most people would not consider damaging; or statements about someone with no reputation left to destroy, such as an already convicted mass-murderer.

If you wait until you are sued, you are suggesting a lack of good faith on your part. Most countries protect certain types of statements from prosecution, though this may be limited to statements uttered in court or parliament. A statement of analysis or opinion reasonably based on verifiable facts and in the public interest. Your defense has to be: the facts are true and the comment upon those facts is fair. It also has to be a consistent, sincere, honestly-held opinion, not merely rhetoric made up for the occasion.

Publication includes republication from another medium, a quote, or Internet publication. You have to be able to demonstrate the relevance of their private to their public life to justify breaching privacy. The climate of official secrecy has in many cases been made tighter by anti-terrorism legislation.

Courts may want to know what checks and safeguards your reporting process included, how many sources you used, who they were, and whether the defamed person was given the opportunity to respond.

If you are using reports of past misdeeds in your story, you must show how and why they are still relevant. If the target is powerful and has deep pockets, make sure that a colleague, your editor, or the company lawyer has sufficient time to read your piece and make careful suggestions. In some countries, cartoons or gossip columns are protected from defamation suits because the courts have previously ruled that the context of a piece is relevant — and accepted that gossip and cartoons do not claim to portray literal truth.

But this is not the case everywhere. Unless you have proof, repeating the rumor is publishing a Defamation. Nor will refuting the rumor in your story, if you start by telling it in full. You have still published it. This is good journalistic practice and so may help you defend your actions although not guaranteed protection against being sued.

The named source may have said it, but your news organization published it — and defamation, remember, is a crime of publication. It refers to information which the public will be better-off knowing or worse-off not knowing — not simply what interests the public. Few people would want an aggressive rival state to know exactly where or how borders could be breached, or violent criminals to have access to the plans of the prison security system.

Where official secrets laws are so comprehensive, journalists are often obliged to prove the impossible: that their investigative stories are not a threat to national security. All-encompassing secrecy laws are justified by arguments that blur together many complex ideas. Freedom of information The Ghana Constitution currently contains guarantees for freedom of information and expression in its Bill of Rights.

But supposing the president of a particular country was siphoning off donor money meant to help the poor? Revealing this would certainly be in the public interest. But it could be argued that because it attacked the president and might lead to political instability, or to donors losing faith in giving aid, publishing it was not in the national interest.

Authorities often glide invisibly from arguing that harm might ensue if hostile forces found out certain information which is valid to arguing that the public might not fully understand the information and react in damaging ways which is arguable. There are often clear and valid reasons for not revealing certain official information. But there are other times when the reasons are more suspect.

A government deal to grow genetically-modified crops may impact on the crops of other farmers nearby. In such a case, appeals to the secrets laws or the national interest are merely a way of stopping reporters from discovering important information of public interest.

Achampong Some New Snares Online A whole new world of laws and licenses besides the well-thumbed areas of defamation and libel, contempt of court and privilege and privacy begin to emerge as you move towards webcasting.

There are laws such as the following: 1. Creative Commons and Open Data Rights The same post also covers the more positive aspect of Creative Commons licensing, which allows you to find and use content quickly and with confidence. Images, audio, video, text and other media with Creative Commons licenses allow you to establish whether you can use that media, and how.

Database Rights The ugly cousin of copyright is Database Rights — the rights held by an organisation or individual who has invested significant resources in compiling data. Data Protection Another law that becomes relevant in the transformation from journalist to publisher and in the context of new information gathering techniques is the Data Protection Act It may not be as exciting as it is portrayed in movies, but it brings to light pertinent issues that otherwise would remain hidden, if that is any consolation.

Enterprise journalism thrives on the section of the general public that society forgot such as octogenarians, the disadvantaged, mavericks, social misfits, and the Clergy. These are the sources of alternative perspectives that refresh the soul.

This approach to journalism is based on the understanding that there are as many stories around the journalist as there are residents. To be an Enterprise Reporter, one must be dependable, credible, empathetic, discrete, and able to mix socially.

One must also be skilful in listening and attentiveness, retention, maintaining contacts, managing time under pressure, and cross-checking facts. All the Enterprise Reporter needs to do her work is a smartphone, a pocket writing pad, and a pencil. She shies away from schemes that are controversial at best, and is confined to ethical, transparent methods.

Under no circumstance does the Enterprise Reporter indulge in subterfuge and underhanded means to gather information for the purpose of making news. Enterprise is the essence of the future of the profession of journalism. All the available evidence suggests that journalists are embracing new ways of working with enthusiasm and skill. They have to — digital technologies are changing the ways things are done, an example being significant job losses in what was formerly known as mainstream media.

Journalists are becoming more comfortable with the new tools and technology being introduced in newsrooms and are quite excited at the prospects offered by the development of new platforms, including social media channels. The overwhelming message is that most journalists are increasingly aware of the possibilities presented by online and multimedia journalism. The handbook also discusses the complexities and challenges in studying digital journalism and shines light on previously unexplored areas of inquiry such as aspects of digital resistance, protest, and minority voices.

The Routledge Handbook of Developments in Digital Journalism Studies is a carefully curated overview of the range of diverse but interrelated original research that is helping to define this emerging discipline.

It will be of particular interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students studying digital, online, computational, and multimedia journalism.

The Handbook to Global Online Journalism features acollection of readings from international practitioners andscholars that represent a comprehensive and state-of-the-artoverview of the relationship between the internet and journalismaround the world. Provides a state-of-the-art overview of current research andfuture directions of online journalism Traces the evolution of journalistic practices, businessmodels, and shifting patterns of journalistic cultures that haveemerged around the world with the migration of news online Written and edited by top international researchers andpractitioners in the area of online journalism Features an extensive breadth of coverage, including economics,organizational practices, contents and experiences Discusses developments in online news in a wide range ofcountries, from the USA to Brazil, and from Germany to China Contains original theory, new research data, and reviews ofexisting studies in the field.

The Magazines Handbook has firmly established itself as the essential introduction to the theories and practices of the modern magazine industry. This fully updated third edition comprehensively examines the business of publishing magazines today and the work of the contemporary magazine journalist. Jenny McKay draws examples from a broad range of publications to explore key jobs in the industry, covering everyone from the sub editor to the fashion assistant, as well as analysing the many skills involved in magazine journalism, including commissioning, researching, interviewing, and production.

Updated specialist chapters discuss the growth and development of electronic publishing and online journalism, new directions in magazine design, photography and picture editing, and the most up to date legal frameworks in which magazine journalists must operate.

The book that you now have before you is a product of the conviction that we should care about journalism and its study. We should care about journalism because it's central to democracy, citizenship, and everyday life, and we should care about journalism studies because it helps us understand this key social institution. We are not alone in holding this conviction: a Journalism study is one of the fastest growing areas within the larger discipline of communication research and media studies.

As indicated by a serious, though a not altogether coherent body of academic literature and ongoing scholarly work, the study of journalism has matured to become an academic field of its own right. We felt that the arrival of journalism studies ought to be both celebrated and solidified and to honor this ambition, The Handbook of Journalism Studies was conceived as a gathering place for the varied lasting and emerging preoccupations of scholars in the field.

This handbook, therefore, bears witness to the rapid and exciting developments in this important area of research, as well as its complexity, richness, and promise in terms of theory and research.

We hope the book can boost the intellectual foundations of journalism studies, providing the reader with an overview of journalism as a dynamic field of study across its diverse epistemological, theoretical and methodological traditions.

Fundamentals of Journalism set out to comprehensively chart the field and define the agenda for future in an international context. It is our hope that the book, when taken as a whole, provides a sense of journalism on a global scale, covering not just the dominant Indian traditions but also looking beyond this context, to Africa, Latin America, Continental Europe, and Asia. Although we have sought to make journalism studies a broad church in including 15 different chapters, each covering an impressive breadth of subject matter, we do not claim to survey every key area and tradition of scholarship in journalism studies.

We had to make tough choices about what we were able to include and, regrettably, what to leave out. Needless to say, it would be impossible to do complete justice to a rich, dynamic and ever-emerging field of research in only one volume, however bulky, and we are reassured that journalism studies continue to be a productive scholarly community where the debates that echo in this book and those we have been unable to reflect continue with unabated fervour. What we do hope is that Fundamentals of Journalism will be a useful fundamental resource for anyone trying to get a sense of an academic field of inquiry and its past, present, and future.

The book is structured around a critical engagement with key theoretical and empirical traditions, fields of inquiry and scholarly detailed in journalism, laid out by the foremost experts in each area. Beginning with four introductory chapters which outline more general issues in the field, the organization of the book reflects the aim of covering the broad contours of journalism studies.

The volume contains four thematic sections, covering scholarship on news production and organizations, news content, journalism and society, and journalism in a global context. Within these four sections, each chapter provides a systematic and accessible overview of the state of scholarship and defines key problems, but also advances theory-building and problem solving, and identifies areas for further research.

The production and consumption of news in the digital era is blurring the boundaries between professionals, citizens and activists. Actors producing information are multiplying, but still media companies hold central position.

Journalism research faces important challenges to capture, examine, and understand the current news environment. The SAGE Handbook of Digital Journalism starts from the pressing need for a thorough and bold debate to redefine the assumptions of research in the changing field of journalism.