The Elements of Journalism

Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel’s reference book, The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect (2001), functions as a guidebook both for journalists and citizens. It was awarded the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University, the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for research in journalism, and the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism from Pennsylvania State University.

The book outlines ten elements and principals of good journalism. The first is the obligation of journalism to tell the truth. Journalists should endeavor to present the whole and unbiased truth as it appears at that moment in history, while still bearing in mind that truth is subject to change over time. Truth in journalism is achieved by assembling and rigorously checking facts, and then conveying a fair and complete version of those facts.

Second, journalists should be loyal to the citizens who receive their news from them. This means that even if journalists’ parent newspaper is owned by a major corporation, they should not favor that corporation in their reporting. It also implies that journalists are equally beholden to all citizens, so they should not neglect certain subsets of the population in their reporting.



The next element discussed is the need for verification of facts and sources. There is no one-size-fits-all method for verifying facts, and, as such, it is not a didactic skill taught to journalists. Instead, each journalist must rely on a personalized toolbox that gives him or her methods needed to check and verify a story. Some things that journalists can do to verify information are to seek out multiple witnesses, ask all sides of the debate for comment, and disclose as much about their sources as possible.

By necessity, journalists must remain independent. They should not allow themselves to become compromised by power or intimidated by those that hold it. They should also avoid situations in which their own self-interest can be used to influence what they report, such as accepting expensive meals or other perks from a person they are covering.

One of the primary purposes of journalism is to monitor people and institutions in power. This does not necessarily mean that journalists should seek to undermine power, but rather that they should serve the underserved rather than those that already have a lot of resources at their disposal. In addition to reporting on failures and problems with those in power, journalists should also report on successes and good things when they are warranted.



Another duty of journalists is to provide a platform for public debate. In democratic societies, journalistic institutions receive certain privileges, such as protection of free speech in exchange for serving all sides of public debates. These privileges are conferred on the assumption that journalism will provide high quality and necessary information to all citizens. This means that journalists should try to represent all sides of a debate and identify common ground so that problems can be solved in the sphere of debate.

Journalism is a form of storytelling. While conveying information is the most important aspect of reporting, the information that is reported should be interesting and relevant to the average person. This may mean balancing what the person wants to know with what they need to know in order to be an informed citizen. News writing and reporting should be accessible in general, using vocabulary and syntax that most adults can easily comprehend.

Related to the last point, journalists should also try to keep events in proportion. While they should report on a wide cross-section of interesting and necessary stories, they should not lose sight of which stories are important and which are anomalous or not likely to affect most people. This may mean avoiding inflating stories for sensational effect or being disproportionately negative.



While doing all of this, journalists must not lose sight of their conscience. They should not simply report the news without question. By asking questions and challenging things that they think are wrong, journalists produce a more complete picture of a given issue. This also extends to the editing process, when journalists should not be afraid to ask questions of their colleagues or point out errors and oversights when they see them.

The final section of The Elements of Journalism was added to later editions of the book. This last principal concerns the responsibilities of citizens acting as journalists. It discusses small things regular people can do when corresponding on social media or with their friends that can help stem the flow of misinformation. Individuals are responsible for evaluating whether or not the news they consume follows the above principals and is trustworthy.