...it's all about being your pal

A Handbook of Independent Journalism

10/09/2010 14:07

HANDBOOK OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM, provides an easy-to-read insight into the role of journalism in any society, particularly in a democratic setting.

handbook of independent journalism, deborah potter

HANDBOOK OF INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM

One's first contact with this all-important handbook, was at a journalism workshop, which held at the main auditorium of the Nigeria Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Lagos, Nigeria, sponsored by the United States Information Service (USIS), sometime in 2006. The second contact was at the USIS, on May 3, when the "World Press Freedom Day" was celebrated with a select group of Nigerian journalists.

The handbook, which indeed, is very handy, provides a concise insight into the fundamentals of journalsim, as well as the role, which journalism is expected to play in any society - providing information for the citizenry, with an emphasis on the truth.

Divided into eight chapters, it is a treasure for not only a journalism professional, but a rookie journalist, who has an unalloyed interest in taking up journalism as a profession.

Questions such as: What is News? How to get, tell and edit the story? are dealt with in the handbook.

Unlike many other handbooks on journalism, this provides an insight into broadcast and online journalism, providing an overview on how to write for broadcast media, and indeed, online media. While also providing a reservoir of journalism resources, it also gives invaluable insight into the various fields of specialised reporting, with emphaisis on the ethics of the profession.

Deborah Potter, has no doubt, done an excellent job in treating journalism both as a profession and as a craft.