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4.3: Journalistic Genres

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    294858
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    There are a wide variety of journalistic genres. Genres refer to types of journalism. Examples of these genres can be found across many different types of journalistic platforms, whether in print, online, or in broadcasting.

    For some people, it can be confusing to distinguish between article or story types and journalism genres. Article types refer more to the characteristics of your story – for example, news or feature stories – whereas the genre refers more to the specific type of journalism you are practising. For example, you can practise news journalism (genre) by writing news articles (article type) and news features (article type). You can be a culture journalist (genre) by writing feature stories about famous artists (article type).

    An easy way to remember this: genres and beats are quite similar – if your beat is sports journalism, the genre of journalism that you are practising is also sports journalism. Journalism genres can be easily identified in specialist publications.

    There are publications that focus on business news (such as Business Day) – thus, the genre of journalism you will find in Business Day is business news – while a publication such as Glamour in South Africa is an example of the celebrity and fashion genre.

    Some publications, especially newspapers and general news websites, cover a variety of genres, from news to business to fashion to travel, etc. These publications often employ general journalists – journalists who do not have specific beats, and they cover all kinds of news and events.

    The following are some well-known journalism genres (there are many others) and publications in South Africa:

    • News journalism – journalism about the events of the day; this would include most newspapers, such as The Star or Natal Witness.
    • Culture journalism – journalism that covers cultural happenings, such as art exhibitions, theatre shows, and music concerts. In South Africa, a publication in this genre include LitNet (online).
    • Celebrity journalism – journalism that focusses on celebrities and the things they do; an example of such a publication is You and Huisgenoot, which cover other genres also, but with a strong focus on celebrity news.
    • Investigative journalism – journalism that focusses on finding the story behind the story; deep investigative pieces to really show readers what is going on. An example would be the Mail & Guardian.
    • Community journalism – this is journalism that focusses on specific areas or specific communities, for example, the Roodepoort Record, which focusses on stories that are relevant to the Roodepoort area.
    • Journalism for social change – journalism that focusses on making positive changes in society, for example, The Odyssey Online.
    • Developmental journalism – journalism that tries to make a difference, focusses on the public interest and tells stories about marginalised people who are not often heard or seen in other publications, such as GroundUp.
    • Peace journalism – journalism that focusses on promoting peace in countries or areas affected by conflict; an international example is The Peace Journalist.
    • Sport journalism – journalism that focusses on different sporting codes, or one specific sport, such as SA Rugby Magazine.

    Summary

    This chapter showed you the different types of journalists, the work they do and the newsrooms where they work. In the next chapter you will discover how to be a fair and credible journalist, you will learn about story types, and you will find detailed information about finding sources and how interview them for your story.


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