How Print Journalism Reigns Over Media Forms

By Maynard Delfin
Manila, Philippines

Journalism consists of a wide range of systems in delivering information to the public with objectivity, accuracy and balanced reporting. Among all forms of journalism, the print group or offline category is considered to be more critical in providing news. Print media present more substantial news items with sufficient analysis of a particular issue.

In print journalism, reporters are able to give every side of the story and can directly probe on the background of the event. Readers are then informed and educated about the turn of events whether there may be controversies or biases underlying in the life events.

Unlike in other codes of journalism, proximity and immediacy are more prevalent in the news items and analysis of why things have occurred cannot easily be obtained in broadcast reports (radio and TV). Basically, the shelf life of print stories is longer. This is the reason that the data should be checked to achieve accuracy and facts should be validated under pressure. Although many commentators have diverse backgrounds when giving opinions as they are interviewed in broadcast media, it is still very much different in print journalism. It has a greater staying power where statements can be quoted and used as reference.

A written article stays for a long time than merely hearing or watching news. Journalists who are trained primarily on a pen-and-paper type of journalism can survive the worst things when seeking out truth about the news compared to those who simply been working on other types of journalism.

In TV newscasts, you don't need to give all the details due to limited time. In radio, you simply can't get all the information, but only the 4Ws (who, what, where, when) and 1H (how). In online journalism, sometimes news are simply rewritten pieces or perhaps lifted from another source, but the real facts come from the true and dedicated journalists who are out in the streets covering every beat that happens and deliver real-life drama of the ongoing situation.

Newspapermen are the real survivors in journalism since they are equipped with the fundamentals of presenting facts. If they will transfer what they know to other codes of journalism, then substance will be transmitted to these media forms. The fact remains that print journalism has the widest audience since not everybody can watch TV, listen to the radio or go online. But with all forms of print media available, even the remotest areas can be updated of the latest happenings through newspapers, magazines and other supplements.