What are the Different Types of Journalism?

Discover the various fields of journalism including print, photo, broadcast and multimedia. Read on to learn about different types of journalism majors and see required skills and potential salaries.

Overview of Types of Journalists and Journalism

Journalists gather and share newsworthy information with the public through newspapers, magazines, online publications, television, and more. The field continues to change, with a decline in newspaper readership and a focus on online materials. Although journalists in different fields may have different work environments and career paths, all journalists should have strong communication skills, the ability to write clearly and the persistence to follow stories. Some journalism may contain elements of opinion and analysis, but in general, reporters are expected to be impartial.

Journalist Career Overview

Required Education	Bachelor's degree in journalism or communications preferred
Characteristics and Skills	Deadline-oriented, persistent, inquisitive, clear communication skills
Median Salary (2018)	$41,260 (Reporters and Correspondents)*
Job Outlook (2018-2028)	12% decrease (Reporters and Correspondents)*

*Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Fields of Journalism (By Medium)

One of the most basic ways to define journalism fields is by the medium through which it's provided. These fields of journalism require similar reporting and storytelling skills but have a different way to disseminate the information.

Print/Online Journalism: Some journalists write articles and blogs for print or online publications, like newspapers and magazines.
Broadcast Journalism: Reporters who share news on the television or radio, or through video or audio online are broadcast journalists. While print or online journalists focus more on writing skills, broadcast journalists may have more technical video and audio production skills.
Photojournalism: Photojournalists tell stories through photos. Their photos may sometimes accompany written stories or stand on their own.
Multimedia Journalism: This is a combination of written, broadcast, and photojournalism to create interactive and engaging stories to appear on the web.

Types of Journalism Writing and Reporting (By Content)

Types of journalism can also be divided based on what it covers. These are a few traditional types:

News Journalism: This is reporting on daily events from crime to politics, on a local or national scale.
Feature Journalism: Features are generally longer than news stories, allow for more creativity, and delve deeper into a topic.
Investigative Journalism: Investigative journalists work to undercover corruption and fraud, often in politics or business.
Opinion pieces, columns, reviews, and analysis pieces: These types of pieces are based more on opinion, but do have elements of journalism and are featured on TV shows, radio programs, newspapers, and more.

An increasingly popular type of journalism is data journalism. With all of the data that is available in this day and age, data journalists have the skills to be able to find trends in numbers that tell a larger story.

Subject-Specific Journalism

Some journalists focus on special subjects, and this is sometimes called beat journalism. They may cover these fields as a reporter for a daily newspaper or write for publications specifically dedicated to these topics. Some common beats include sports, business, politics, arts and culture, education, travel, science and the environment, and crime.

Types of Journalism Majors

Undergraduate journalism majors vary depending on the university but tend to provide a general overview of the types of journalism mentioned in this article. Most universities have a general journalism degree program, through which students learn the basics of reporting, journalism ethics, and how to report for different mediums. Some programs may allow students to focus on specific areas based on medium (like broadcast journalism) or subject. For example, you can get an online degree in sports journalism. Master's programs in journalism may be more specialized in areas like data journalism, arts journalism, and more.