How Journalists Work

How Journalists Work — page 1 — CHAPTER ONE

How Journalists Work — page 2 — THE JOURNALIST'S ROLE TODAY Journalist Barbara Ehrenreich has focused her life's work on sharing with people what's happening and why it's important In 2001 she published an influential book called Nickel and Dimed In it she exposed the plight of the working poor in the United States In her research for the book Ehrenreich went undercover and worked as a waitress hotel maid house cleaner nursing home aide and Walmart salesperson Ehrenreich found these jobs to be mentally and physically exhausting She discovered that many Reporters work hard to meet their deadlines

How Journalists Work — page 3 — Author Barbara Ehrenreich moderates a press conference on the effects of the economic crisis in April 2009 Americans working in these low paying jobs had to have two or three jobs to survive Ehrenreich did not simply want to describe the plight of the working poor She wanted to help improve their working conditions and pay She said As a journalist I search for the truth But as a moral person I am also obliged to do something about it CAN ANYONE BE A JOURNALIST Journalists gather information create a story about it and share that story with the public Some journalists write stories for people to read in newspapers or magazines or on the Internet Others record audio

How Journalists Work — page 4 — or video reports for people to listen to on the radio or watch on television Journalists go by different names including reporters and correspondents Anyone can gather THE DOWNFALL OF A PRESIDENT On August 9 1974 the front page headline of the Washington Post said simply Nixon Resigns Richard Nixon was president of the United States He was forced to give up his job He had been part of the Watergate scandal He knew about a plot to break into his political opponents offices in the Watergate building in Washington DC Journalists found out what happened They wrote stories about it Citizens read newspaper articles and watched television reports about what had happened The public believed Nixon lied Nixon became very unpopular and decided to resign information and share it with the world People can write articles and publish their work on blogs People can take photos and videos on smartphones and post them online But there are differences between journalists and citizens acting as journalists The job of journalists is to report news stories They are paid to do it

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