1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

30 Journalism Online
It is true that some individuals have a natural aptitude for
important elements of the journalistic process, such as asking
complete strangers personal questions or displaying quick wittedness
and lateral thinking on the back of two hours sleep.
There are people who are definitely better at journalism than
others – better researchers, reporters, designers and, most
tellingly, better writers. However, that doesn’t mean that the
fundamentals, the core journalism, are not within the grasp of
many people. There may still be ink, but not as a blue-blooded
birthright. The Fourth Estate is not a monarchy; it is a
republic. In the online world, it has the potential to include
the millions who are researching and publishing on the web
each day.
As this chapter will demonstrate, processes such as news
identification, collection, selection and presentation can be
explained and learned. There is no mystique. Indeed, many of
these activities are rooted in concepts of the utmost simplicity.
Core journalism can be taught.
The core journalistic process
This statement will be anathema to many journalists, but
journalism is a process. It can be articulated as requirements,
structure and outcomes. It does not have to be a sterile process,
lacking in flair and imagination; but these are not the only
ingredients.
At its core, the process has four stages:
identify and find news and/or information which will attract and
interest the key audience/readers;
collect all the materials needed to tell the story/provide the
information;
select from the collection the best material; and
present that material as effectively as possible.
Journalists working in print, radio or television follow this
sequence to produce stories as a complete package, a digest of