Coordinator: Ekaterini Nikolarea [624279]

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THE STRUGGLE OF BEING A
JOURNALIST

Class: English II
Student: [anonimizat]: Ekaterini Nikolarea
Spring Semester 2016

Department of Cultural Technology and Communication | University of the Aegean
Mytilene 2016

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The struggle of being a journalist

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization defined journalism as „ a
function shared by a wide range of actors, including professional full-time reporters and
analysts, as well as bloggers and others who engage in forms of self -publication in print, on
the internet or elsewhere”.1
Today the definition of a journalist refers to newspaper and television reporters and even bl og-
based journalists or online -based journalists. According to Raju Narisetti on the article Raju
Narisetti's T op 9 Challenges Facing Journalism from mediashift website, „the definition of a
journalis t must include « I will do everything I can to bring more people to my journalism »”.
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Therefore, a journalist is a man or woman who works in different areas of life (from education,
sports, culture to politics) and who finds and presents informations in a proper way using some
certain conditions of writing. His or he r mission is to present the informations as news to his or
her public who is reading the newspaper or the magazine, who is listening the radio or who is
watching the news on TV stations. A journalist can have many roles and if he works for a daily
newspape r he can be: reporter, special reporter, editor, sub -editor, photojournalist, feature
writer, specialist writer or the news editor.
This profession is not an easy one because the journalist must be dynamic and he has to face
new challenges everyday . More, a journalist needs a big dose of responsability and force of
character because his work can be apreciated or not by the general public. A journalist is the
fourth power in his state and his role is to serve the people’s need and to mentain the bal ance
between the other three estates: the government, the courts and the clergy.
One important aspect is that journalism is like any other jobs, it can have advantages and
disadvantages. For example, a disadvantage is that the employer put pressure on the journalist
to write something or prepare a reportage in a short time. Another times the journalist is close
to failure or he even fails but even the best journalist can go through hard times at his job. All
journalists, especially reporters have to face de adline pressures, whatever the skill level they
have.
The struggle of being a journalist has been always seen in editorials where the employer doesn’t
give enough money to the emoployee or in the government -owned news organisations, where
the employer is the government and the employee, the journalist is the one who often has to
write and present informations which are favourable to the government ( even if sometimes the
news are not important and they don’t represent an interest for the public) .

1 Human Rights Committee, General Comment No 34, UN NPC, 2011, UN Doc. CCPR/GC/ 34 at.11
2 Maryanne Reed 2/6/2016 Raju Narisetti’s Top 9 Challenges Facing Journalism ,
http://mediashift.org/2013/11/raju -narisettis -top-9-challenges -facing -journalism/

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In the article Chapter 58: P ressures on J ournalists , the author says that „ comercial media are
paid for by a mixtur e of advertising and sales. To increase sales, newspapers, radio and
television stations sometimes sponsor sporting or cultural events, and then publici se them”.3
What the author wants to say is that the journalists who are working on public news
organisations are not the only ones who have pressure on their shoulders. Even the professionals
who are working in comercial media have to work in order to represent the interests of their
employer.
After all the difficulties, foreign journalists , especially reporters are st ill the ones who are taking
the hardest fight because the y are going in dangerous countries and they are putting their lives
at risk f or their audienc e and for the sake of their job. But before all what is a reporter? The
newsmanual website defined the reporter as a person who „ gather information and present it
in a written or spoken form in news stories, feature articles or documentaries ”.4
In 2013 in the november edition of Reporters without borders magazine appeared an article
named The word’s most dangerous country for journalists where it talks about the foreign
journalists who were captured by armed and criminal groups or even worse, who were killed.5
According to Patrick Cockburn in The Independent, „ Violen ce is one thing, but what causes
real terror is the threat of kidnapping”.6 For example, from the beginning of the war in Syria
until 2013, 37 journalists were kidnapped or they disappeared, especially because they were
suspected of spying in favor of West or just for ransoms.
In a chronological order,on 13 August 2012 two americans, McClatchy and Austin Tice, a
freelancer for the Washington Post, Al -Jazeera in English were kidnapped and after less time,
on 4 September 2012, another journalist suffered the same thing, but this time a spanish reporter
from El Periodico. All these kidnappings of foreing journalists didn’t stopped not even in 2013
and according to Reporters without borders magazine, another seven journalists( four French
nationals, one Jordan national of Palestinian origin, one Lebanese cameraman and one
Mauritanian reporter) were held hostages.7
Today is increasingly clear that the journalists who are in the midle of conflicts in order to
present them to the audience are going through depressing and dark times. Therefore, being a
journalist, especially a war corrrespondent it is a struggle because a journalist is always exposed
to the danger and af ter he finishes his job he can suffer from post -traumatic stress disorder like
the soldiers from the war. A short explanation of why this tragic things frequently happen is
given by Dashiel Bennett in The life of a War Correspondent is Even Worse than You Think ,

3 David Ingram and the Peter Henshall 2/6/2016, Chapter 58: Pressures on journalists ,
http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%2 0Volume%203/volume3_58.htm

4 David Ingram and Peter Henshall 2/6/2016, Chapter 2: What is a journalist? ,
http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%201/volume1_02.htm

5, November 2013, "The World's Most Dangerous Country For Journalists", Reporters without borders,5
6 Patrick Cockburn 2/6/2016, Violence is one thing, but what causes real terror is the threat of kidnapping,
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/violence -is-one-thing -but-what -causes -real-terror -is-the-threat –
of-kidnapping -8755853.html

7 November 2013, "The World's Most Dangerous Country For Journalists", Reporters without borders,5

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an article from thewire website, where he says that " Most media outlets can't afford full time
war correspondents, so they rely on freelancers who make less money and receive no benefits
like expense accounts, security, or insurance. Because the pay is so poor, those freelancers are
forced to take extra risks, like not hiring a translator or staying in a cheaper hotel." 8
It is certain that a journalist can be anyone if he or she can satisfy certain conditions (like: good
written and oral communica tion skills, good general knowledge, excellent research skills, good
organisational skills, to be able to work to deadlines), but being a woman journalist in Saudi
Arabia is a really hard thing. For example, Manal Humaidan, a reporter at Al-Sharw Al -Awsat
newswpaper revealed in The struuggle of being a woman journalist in Saudi Arabia that not
only mens are treating her in an inappropriate way, but also womens: " Female officials give us
a hard time. They are not always available, and if they speak they wi ll not tell you anything that
is meaningful or useful for the story." 9 The author of the article adds that the work of a journalist
women is not simple and the support received from the employer can be vital. Sometimes
people don't want to cooperate with a female reporter (for reasons more or less grounded) but
if they talk on the phone with her boss it is possible to change their minds and maybe they will
let her do her job. It is becoming increasingly obvious that journalism can be an unpleasant job
for the womens from Saudi Arabia and this because of the people who have certain stereotypes
about female journalists but also because they are creating difficulties for not disclosing the
informations they want to keep just for them.
Another fight that journalists are taking is the one with online aggression, especially through
online platforms. For example, in a survey conducted by the University of Strathclyde, many
journalists revealed that they have problems with their self -esteem, their confidence a nd they
have all the time to face with stress and anxiety.
" Our research shows that significant numbers of journalists experience online abuse in their
daily work"10, says Dr. Sallyanne Duncan of the University of Strathclyde in one article from
theJournal ist magazine. What Dr. Sallyanne Duncan is trying to explain that any journalists
that are using online platforms in their everyday work they are exposed to the online bullying,
and to threats of violence to the harm of their families. This is an alarmin g thing because some
journalists stopped using social media by the reason of they were afraid about their lives and
they started to worry about what stories they could cover.
Another worrying thing is that Twitter was found one of the main sources of cyber bullying and
this because through that platform the malicious people wrote aggressive comments against
journalists and according to theJournalist magazine, twenty eight percent of the journalists
received threats with violence and five percent received wor rying threats of the safety of their
families. So bullying is synonymous with many forms of cruelty and meanness.

8 Dashiell Bennett, 2 /6/2016, The Life of a War Correspondent Is Even Worse Than You Think ,
http://www.thewire.com/global/2013/07/life -war-correspondent/67038/

9 Fatima Sidia 2/6/2016 , The struggle of being a woman journalist in Saudi Arabia ,
http://w.menassat.com/?q=ar%2Fnews -articles%2F7388 -struggle -being -woman -journalist -saudi -arabia

10July-August 2015, "Scottish journalists suffer online bullying", The Journalist, 6

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The struggle of being a journalist has been knowning since the beginning of this profession and
for the people who are practicing this job is really hard to have a free day to celebrate something.
Most of the journalists are stucked in their office or on the field even on the holidays and some
press people who works on the holidays says that their job requires a lot of dedication and the
most im portant thing – time.
Elena Robu, a presenter for Unimea declares that " It was a period when I worked on holidays,
including the Christmas, New Year's Eve or birthdays. It is a lifestyle that you assume it. You
change the hours or days when you can celebrate the birthday and you go to do your job with
dedication, but with a big sacrifice".11 But even if this profession takes more than 50 percent
from the time of a journalist, this professional man will always know how to combine pleasure
with work.
One more problem that a reporter has to face is the need for perspective because the scientific
knowledges may change over time and sometimes to find the right balance is pretty hard. The
work of a journalist can be hampered when he must present a scientif ic issue in a logical way
in order to be understood by all the readers. According to theconversation website, the best
thing a reporter, or generally, a journalist can do is to decide exactly where that issue best fits
and after that to try to discuss and ask for advice from different experts.12
Being a journalist (a young journalis or an experienced senior) was never easy because this
profession requires dedication and to fulfill certain criteria like: good generl knowledge, good
oral communication and wri tten skills, excellent research skills, the ability to work to deadlines,
good organisational skills. Many journalists spend a big part of their time at work ( in editorial
or in the field) and less time with friends or family and sometimes their health ca n suffer because
they start having stress problems which are caused by deadlines combined with low pay and
competition from different websites. Whether journalists are working for a public organization
(for example a government -owned organization) or just for a private one they will always find
some disadvantages in each side. If they are working for a government -owned organization it
is possible that someday to be in the position to write things which are favourable to the
employer, even if they like it or not. Apart from this the low pay is a big problem for journalists
, especially for the beginners and the pressure on their shoulders will be permanently present.
This profession can force the reporters, special -reporters or photojournalists to take great er risks
( like going to dangerous countries to present the news from the middle of the conflicts) but this
is what they know better, this is their job and a good story can bring them success, fame or even
a reward.
Journalists like the rest of the people can go through hard times at work and they can be exposed
to online bullying. Because of this problem some journalists stopped using social media and the
reason is that they were threatened and this made them to worry about their lives.

11 Rodica Grigoriu 2/6/2016 Munca de jurnalism nu are sarbatoare , http://ev erydayjournalism.md/munca -de-
jurnalist -nu-are-sarbatoare/
12 Peter Ellerton 2/6/2016, The problem of false balance when reporting on science,
https://theconversation.com/the -problem -of-false -balance -when -reporting -on-science -29077

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Journalists are m aking sacrifices and are fighting with deadlines, agressive words from the
people, they are facing different types of problems but a remarcable thing is that they do
everything to mentain a good balance in their state and to inform their audience in a pro per
way.