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Study in journalism

 

1. Intro



The history of journalism is a long and storied one, with a significant number of the people who have worked in it having contributed significantly to this field. To help you get started on your study in journalism, we thought we would start off with a quick primer on the history of journalism itself.



2. What is the definition of research journalism?



What is the definition of study in journalism?


The term “study in journalism” may sound like it describes a particular type of academic research, but it is actually used to describe any piece of writing that doesn’t fit traditional academic requirements for publications. This includes articles published as short blog posts, long interviews with experts or business leaders, and any kind of other work that aims to be read by general audiences.


To me, this definition is the most expansive and inclusive of the definitions offered here at MEC — in fact, it covers so many different types of work that I’m not sure where to begin.


As we embark on our new publishing model, we want to make sure everyone understands what it means for us to publish under this name. Whether you are just starting out or you have been doing this professionally for a long time — we think that your contribution will make a difference. We don’t want to alienate anyone; we certainly don’t want to be seen as only interested in reading academic papers and investment research reports. So if you have something you think might best represent MEC — please let me know!



3. What are the different types of Journalism research?



When it comes to journalism, there are many different types of research. Some will be programmatic or hackish, others are more qualitative and the rest will be in-depth. The best way to figure out what type of research you need is to think about what questions you would like to answer and how you want to answer them. A good question is "what’s the story?" This can be anything from a press release or blog post, to a series of phone calls or interviews; it doesn’t have to be set up as a particular story. An important thing here is that you definitely don’t have to answer each question in order; they can just as easily come later on.


It’s worth noting that one should not get bogged down with single questions. Questions often come from multiple angles and if you start off with a specific type of question, then the rest of your research may feel constricted by that one word (for example “marketing strategy”). Personally I try for things like: what are some examples of competing products? What features do users care about in relation to other products? What was the most recent feature release or update for this product?,etc…



4. The steps in doing a successful research in journalism



Just because you are studying journalism doesn’t mean it’s easy. Besides writing about the topic, there are a lot more steps that are required to be taken in order to accurately and completely research something as complex as journalism. In this post, I will try to give some tips and ideas for how to do it properly.


I get asked all the time: how can I do a good journalistic study? And the answer is: learn from one of the best — journalists who have done a really good job on their studies. The actual amount of knowledge I have on this subject is 2-3 years old, but if you ask me what I know now, it is probably in better shape than what I would have ever expected at that point in my life.


Doing a good study doesn’t necessarily require years of reading through books and articles, or learning every detail that has been written about a particular topic. It also doesn’t mean you should not write up your thoughts and opinions into something that makes sense — though you definitely need to be very careful with that part (and if you’re wondering: all the things I mention here were written by me).


In order to do a successful study, one needs perhaps more than two hours of writing each day — sometimes even more than 20 hours per week for several months. You will need to organize your thoughts into an outline first before actually writing down your thoughts on paper (which means first understanding what you want to say). The process might be tedious at first but trust me when I say this: it will pay off in the end.



5. Conclusion



I like to think of my journalism studies as a foundation for being a better marketer. In fact, I’m not sure if I would be as effective at it if I didn’t have that background.


I have mentioned that it is important to study what you are going to do so you understand the parts equally well. But that is only half the battle: understanding how you do things is just as important. The best way of doing this is by studying how people follow news and where they look for content (both in articles/blogs and in social media).


I am no hack, but I did learn some useful lessons from the many papers and books I have read on this topic — which is why I wrote this post:


Here are seven things you can do when studying journalism (or any other field for that matter) that can greatly improve your work:


1. Watch what others are watching


When starting out, start by watching what others are watching — and copying them. You will soon see patterns, patterns you can use to stay ahead of your competition. This will help with your research as well!


2. Observe the audience and its needs


Watching what others are watching is a good place to start, but it has limits: while it may help you gather data on trends and behaviors, it won’t tell you anything about your users specifically. What matters most is observing the audience itself—the people who subscribe or watch the information you provide them (for example, through social media).


I used to be very bad at this; during my first year of university I was actually almost entirely ignoring all aspects of user behavior which were not directly related to my own product or service (which was pretty much everything). My peers noticed this problem early on and once we had a discussion about our success (and failures) they pointed me in the right direction: http://www.cnetnews.com/story/tech/2016/06/15/breaking-ohio-student-loses-job-over-suppressing-user-feedback/, https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjcrusco/2012/04/19/why-managers-shouldn%E2%80%99t-ignore-their-own-users/#1f6b7d0e6964?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign

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