{"id":8983,"date":"2025-03-10T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cntiwpedev.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=8983"},"modified":"2026-01-30T13:46:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:46:28","slug":"definitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnti.org\/surveys\/what-it-means-to-do-journalism-in-the-age-of-ai-journalist-views-on-safety-technology-and-government\/definitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Definitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is no consensus definition<\/a> of journalism, at least in part by design. Thirty years ago, examining a definition did not seem necessary. People could rely on obvious physical traits: the broadsheet newspaper and the 30-minute newscast, for example, which were almost exclusively produced by professional and institutional outlets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the media universe expands, it has become harder to easily differentiate journalism from other content. Social media feeds have largely standardized the way external links look and feel, and the wide availability of high-quality web templates has also blurred once-reliable visual cues. Furthermore, many more people are now involved in the process of getting informed by posting eye-witness accounts, sharing news stories digitally and offering commentary and analysis about the day\u2019s events. At the same time, governments are increasingly defining journalism in policy, both in actions to support journalism<\/a> and to suppress it<\/a>. These shifts have made it more important to consider definitions of journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNTI has been exploring the changing definition of journalism through the Defining News Initiative which includes surveys and focus groups<\/a> with the public, policy analyses<\/a> and now this survey of journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this lens on how journalists themselves feel about their role in society, respondents mainly focus on the civic function of journalism \u2014 its power to support informed participation in public life \u2014 and the importance of broad circulation and distribution. But, nearly half of them (45%) think the field is not communicating that value well to the public, and a similar number (51%) think the public cannot identify what journalism is and what it is not. The traits journalists associate with their job \u2014 ethical standards, approaching things analytically, and working hard \u2014 clearly support the civic function of news. There are some differences by region. While those in the Global North are more likely to say <\/strong>non-journalists can produce journalism, most of the respondents find the public an important source for their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why we did this study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This project continues CNTI\u2019s Defining News Initiative<\/a> seeking to understand how journalism is defined today. Access to information is not just important for its own sake; it makes democracy<\/a> possible. In 2024, the United Nations outlined Global Principles for Information Integrity<\/a> in response to growing challenges around misinformation, disinformation and hate speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This survey explores (1) how current journalists view their industry, (2) their (and their organizations\u2019) uses and perceptions of technology, (3) their perspectives on government action and cyber security and (4) their experiences with online harassment and abuse. Importantly, respondents to CNTI\u2019s study come from a global mix of journalists that provide an international perspective on how journalists are navigating and understanding their rapidly changing industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more details, see \u201cAbout this study<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNTI partnered with journalism organizations in several continents to share the survey with their memberships. Surveys are a snapshot of what people think at a particular moment in time. These data were collected between October 14, 2024 and December 1, 2024, which means they highlight the perspective of journalists around the world during that time frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These data reflect the responses collected from 433 journalists across 63 countries. Because no global census of journalists exists, no survey can be \u201cfully representative\u201d of all journalists. Moreover, 256 of our respondents (59%) came from three countries: Mexico, Nigeria, and the U.S.; when one of these three countries is statistically different from others in its group, we acknowledge that difference in the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this section, we grouped countries into Global North and Global South, which share many demographic, economic and political similarities. A little more than a third (38%) of our respondents live in the Global North, and the rest live in the Global South (62%).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Journalists see a lot of value in their field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We asked journalists to define journalism in just a few words. Of the 323 codeable answers in English, Spanish, French, Ukrainian, German, and Arabic,1<\/a><\/sup> 223 (69%) focus on the professional practice<\/strong> of journalism and 181 (56%) focus on the social function <\/strong>of journalism. These numbers add up to more than 100% because 88 responses (27%) address both. An additional nine responses mention other traits, including six that emphasize downsides of practicing journalism, like poor pay or high levels of risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, journalists are most concerned with the civic function of journalism, under the theme of social function (i.e., its power to support informed participation in public life) and the importance of broad circulation and distribution, under the theme of professional practice. More than 75% of responses include at least one of these two concepts. Journalists also emphasize the importance of reliable facts (28%) and the process of newsgathering (25%) as defining professional norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journalists define journalism in terms of both professional practices and social functions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t
<\/th>\n\t\t\t<\/th>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t<\/thead>\n\t
Theme: Professional practice<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\t69%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Distribution<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t44%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Factual<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t28%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Newsgathering<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t25%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Verification<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t15%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Objective<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t8%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Theme: Social function<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\t56%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Civic<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t48%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Watchdog<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t12%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Interventionist<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t5%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Service<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t2%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Infotainment<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t0<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Loyal facilitator<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t0<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Other<\/strong><\/td>\n\t\t\t3%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t
Downsides of journalism<\/span><\/td>\n\t\t\t2%<\/td>\n\t\t<\/tr>\n\t<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n
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Note: We coded a total of 323 responses, and answers were not mutually exclusive, so percentages add up to more than 100%.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professional practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 223 responses about the professional practice of journalism are varied. At least 142 responses address distribution<\/strong>. A typical answer in this category \u201cJournalism is the practice of disseminating timely and accurate information to the public,\u201d<\/em> highlights journalism as a process and profession dedicated to communicating, disseminating and reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Professional Practice Theme<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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The Professional practice theme<\/strong>, which was synthesized from the responses, <\/strong>has five subcategories. The first three categories focus on processes that journalists follow, while the latter two emphasize professional norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n