Exam 5: News-Making and News-Reporting Routines

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Civic journalism, also known as public journalism, differs from traditional journalism in its approach, goals, and relationship with the audience. Here are the key differences:

1. **Focus on Community Engagement:**
Civic journalism is characterized by its focus on engaging citizens in the process of journalism. It aims to involve the public in the discussion of community issues, encouraging them to participate in the democratic process. Traditional journalism, on the other hand, typically maintains a more detached approach, with journalists serving as observers and reporters of events and issues without actively seeking to involve their audience in the process.

2. **Collaborative Approach:**
In civic journalism, journalists often collaborate with their audience to identify the issues that are most important to them. This can involve public forums, surveys, and other methods of gauging public interest or concern. Traditional journalism tends to be more top-down, with editors and journalists deciding what is newsworthy and presenting it to the public.

3. **Problem-Solving Orientation:**
Civic journalists aim not only to report on problems but also to present potential solutions. They encourage public dialogue and seek to help communities understand complex issues and work towards resolving them. Traditional journalism is more likely to report on problems without necessarily taking the next step to explore solutions.

4. **Empowerment of Citizens:**
The goal of civic journalism is to empower citizens with the information they need to be active participants in their communities. It seeks to make the news process more transparent and to give the public tools for engagement and decision-making. Traditional journalism tends to view the dissemination of information as an end in itself, with less emphasis on the subsequent actions taken by the audience.

5. **Narrative and Storytelling:**
Civic journalism often uses narrative storytelling to make issues more relatable and to connect them to the personal experiences of community members. While traditional journalism also uses storytelling, it may do so with a greater emphasis on objectivity and detachment from the subjects of the stories.

6. **Role of the Journalist:**
In civic journalism, the role of the journalist extends beyond that of a reporter to that of a facilitator or convener who helps to bring the community together around common issues. In traditional journalism, the journalist's role is primarily to inform the public by reporting facts and providing analysis.

7. **Outcome-Oriented:**
Civic journalism is often outcome-oriented, with success measured by the extent to which journalism has contributed to community improvement and civic engagement. Traditional journalism measures success more by the accuracy, relevance, and impact of the news it reports, with less direct concern for the outcomes that follow.

In summary, civic journalism is a more participatory and community-focused approach to news reporting that seeks to involve the public in the democratic process, foster dialogue, and encourage problem-solving. Traditional journalism, while it may share some of these goals, typically maintains a greater distance from its audience and focuses more on the objective reporting of events and issues.