Journalism is teamwork conducted by a large group of professionals.
An editor-in-chief is in charge of the whole publication. They make the final decision on the views expressed in the publication. They are also responsible for the legality of the content of the newspaper or media, and for ensuring that the publication adheres to good journalistic practice. The editor-in-chief often writes the editorial, which shows the paper’s outlook on a topical issue. In large papers, there might be multiple editors-in-chief, to the point where there can be a separate department for writing the editorials.
A section- or line editor is usually responsible for a single sector of the media, which they organise and coordinate, for example technology or economics. A news/managing editor to a large extent decides what features get reported. A department manager/editor leads the work of a news department in large papers, such as the culture department.
A sub-editor and photo editor are titles in the middle management of the editorial office. A sub-editor is in charge of putting together and editing features, while a photo editor’s responsibility is to order and pick visual content.
A layout designer uses layout software to create the layout for the printed paper. AD, the art director, is the staff member in charge of the visual appearance of the publication.
Reporters and photographers are employees of the editorial office who usually outnumber other kinds of employees there. Reporters come up with ideas for articles and produce articles and news stories, for which the photographers take and sometimes process the photos. A freelancer is a journalist who works outside the editorial office.
A multimedia journalist is a journalist who makes and modifies articles for the different channels of the same media. A multimedia journalist may, for example, write a dispatch for a piece of news, read it out loud for the radio and create an insert based on it for the television news.
A radio journalist creates journalistic audio content, such as news and interviews, for the radio. A radio presenter is a journalist who hosts radio shows. A radio presenter may, for example, conduct interviews and discuss news and current issues alone or with one or more colleagues. A radio presenter also introduces the edited content and songs played on the radio station. Likewise, a television presenter hosts television shows. Other public figures besides journalists may also be used as television or radio presenters, including actors, models, comedians and experts.
A news anchor (newscaster, newsreader) is a journalist who appears on radio, television or online television. Some newscasters read news produced by the editorial staff with the aid of a teleprompter, a display device that enables the anchor to read the script while seemingly looking straight at the camera. Others appear in news programmes more in the role of a presenter, by discussing, interviewing and interpreting. This is the case in, for example, many US news channels, where the newscasters have a considerable amount of power as explainers of news and formers of public opinion.
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Journalistic Glossary; Data Journalism & Infographics
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This article was updated on January 22nd 2020.