The Impact of Text Messaging in the Journalistic Practices of the Sunday Punch Community Newspaper
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
In the book “The News Media: A journalist looks at his profession,” John Hohenberg (1968) mentions that the world we live in is imperfect. And having an imperfect world, its imperfections must be reported and properly emphasized. Otherwise, the free press fails in one of its major functions- the presentation of the world as it is. Because of this entailed function, journalists in our society may assume a variety of roles such as an eyewitness or narrator, a guide or a counselor to the perplexed, a watchdog over the public and private sectors of the nation or and advocate and defender of the public interest. The functions and duties of the newspapers are not only to present and project the news objectively but to help its readers to express themselves more effectively, canalizing their aspirations, making more articulate their demands. Also, a newspaper should reflect the community it serves - wants and all (Ramirez, 1989). For newspapers to function well, it has to have a structure that provides them with mechanisms to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. According to Franklin (2005), the newsroom serves as a focal point of any newsgathering operation whether print, broadcast or online.
Meanwhile, Bush (1970) states that there are traditional journalistic practices or editorial functions that are present in the newsroom such as (1) getting the news, (2) writing the news, (3) selecting the news, (4) processing the news copy, and (5) displaying the news. The book, “Writing and Reporting News” by Rich (2003) reveals that the reporting and writing processes in a news organization are condensed into four stages. First is the Conceive stage where ideas for the story are developed. Second is the Collect stage (considered as the reporting stage) where journalists interview sources and gather as much information as they could about the topic. Next is the Construct or the writing stage. At this stage,
INTRODUCTION
In the book “The News Media: A journalist looks at his profession,” John Hohenberg (1968) mentions that the world we live in is imperfect. And having an imperfect world, its imperfections must be reported and properly emphasized. Otherwise, the free press fails in one of its major functions- the presentation of the world as it is. Because of this entailed function, journalists in our society may assume a variety of roles such as an eyewitness or narrator, a guide or a counselor to the perplexed, a watchdog over the public and private sectors of the nation or and advocate and defender of the public interest. The functions and duties of the newspapers are not only to present and project the news objectively but to help its readers to express themselves more effectively, canalizing their aspirations, making more articulate their demands. Also, a newspaper should reflect the community it serves - wants and all (Ramirez, 1989). For newspapers to function well, it has to have a structure that provides them with mechanisms to fulfill their responsibilities to the public. According to Franklin (2005), the newsroom serves as a focal point of any newsgathering operation whether print, broadcast or online.
Meanwhile, Bush (1970) states that there are traditional journalistic practices or editorial functions that are present in the newsroom such as (1) getting the news, (2) writing the news, (3) selecting the news, (4) processing the news copy, and (5) displaying the news. The book, “Writing and Reporting News” by Rich (2003) reveals that the reporting and writing processes in a news organization are condensed into four stages. First is the Conceive stage where ideas for the story are developed. Second is the Collect stage (considered as the reporting stage) where journalists interview sources and gather as much information as they could about the topic. Next is the Construct or the writing stage. At this stage,