The work of gathering, writing, and sharing news and information with the public through newspapers, TV, radio, websites, and other media. It aims to inform people about events, issues, and ideas.
From “journal,” meaning a daily record or newspaper, plus the noun-forming suffix “-ism,” indicating a practice or system. The term grew as newspapers and periodicals became established in the 18th and 19th centuries. It came to represent both the profession and the principles behind news reporting.
Journalism is built on the simple idea of telling people what happened today—but scaled up to whole societies. Its name reminds you that news used to arrive slowly, in printed “journals” that people waited for. Now the same mission races through phones in seconds, but the core job hasn’t changed: notice, check, tell.
Journalism developed as a male-dominated profession in many countries, with women often relegated to ‘society’ or ‘women’s pages’ and excluded from political or war reporting. Over the 20th century, women journalists pushed into hard news, investigative work, and leadership roles, challenging assumptions about objectivity and authority being male traits.
Use ‘journalism’ as a gender-neutral field and highlight contributions from journalists of all genders, especially when giving examples or case studies.
Women journalists have broken major stories, reported from war zones, and led newsrooms, though their work has often been under-credited compared to male colleagues.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.