I’m Not a Journalist, but Studying the Profession Makes Me a Better Writer
Understanding the differences between journalism and content writing
Over the last few years, as I’ve sought to explore ways to grow myself as a writer both personally and professionally, the types of outlets I write for have also grown. I’ve gone from writing solely for digital and online media, to print magazines, anthologies and local newspapers. I write for myself and others.
It’s interesting to see the differences required when writing across several different outlets. Lots of the places I write for offer a lot of freedom, wanting the personal tone and injection of my own opinions and experiences into the work. But there are also a few where the writing needs to be more focused on factual reporting, objective narratives, and authenticity - including expert voices and reliable sources. For the psychology and health writing I do, a medical professional reviews everything, and my references need to come from peer-reviewed studies, published in credible journals.
In these pieces, I don’t impose a narrative. I simply provide context, clarity and detail the research/science behind a specific concept. The focus is usually driven by the people I interview, and my role as a writer is about slotting in the facts and pieces of the puzzle to create a coherent piece that offers insight and value for the audience.
But I’m not a journalist, and I’d never use that title for myself. I’m a content writer (amongst other things). After correcting a friend recently, who introduced me to a new acquaintance as a journalist, she asked me what the difference was, and it was a question I decided to explore further. And then, like any good content writer, I thought it’d make a great little article to write about.
Content writing and journalism are different, but there are forms of writing that often blend one into the other. It’s essential as a writer to differentiate the two and know why it’s important to do so.
Content writing vs. Journalism
Content writing might be seen as journalism at its finest - we’re happy to read long-form content, inspired by factual narratives, on the New York Times and feel inspired by the writing. These articles are designed to be thought-provoking, to challenge our ideas and usually contain strong calls to action over issues across our societies and communities.
The byproduct of quality content writing is ever-green articles on expertise - but there’s also a focus on SEO and marketing metrics. Opinions are usually injected to tell the story in a way that provokes emotion. With the rise of the internet and handheld devices, anyone can create content and share it (and lots of people do). The result is more content exists now than ever before in human history, and, we consume that content at an astounding rate. It’s created a ‘lumping’ of all forms of content - including journalism - and this, many think, has become a problem.
Jon Christian criticises the demand for “content” from publications such as Politico and Fortune. He discusses the content spectrum, ranging from hard journalism and quality satire down to quizzes about cartoon characters. His opinion is that referring to journalism as content waters it down, and reduces it from sources and facts to one of audience engagement and popularity
He. also suggests that the journalism-as-content approach leads to sloppy research and poorly sourced articles; something I think we can all agree is becoming more of an issue as news outlets and journalists apologise for false and inaccurate reporting.
So, what should set die-hard journalism apart from standard content writing?
Journalistic articles need to have a degree of objectivity. A journalist should remove their own opinions from their subject and simply report the facts of the situation or event. Credible sources are a must, and the vetting process for sources is often more involved in journalism than in content writing.
Essentially, it’s all about how you write about the subject matter and your focus for the piece. If you’re set on getting information out there and expanding readers knowledge on specific topics with facts and strong narratives, then the rigour of professional journalism is an excellent style to aim for.
The Demand for Clickbait
In the world of online writing, the demand for SEO, clickbait and viral content is a thorn in all our sides. I won’t lie and say I haven’t been wrapped up in these metrics myself for a few pieces I’ve written. I’ve since removed a couple of my clickbaity-viral articles from online as I realised it wasn’t the style I wanted to aim for or the type of writing I wanted to be associated with longer-term.
These demands have dripped through to online journalism, where clickbait and SEO tactics are used to prompt us to read articles and click through on catchy titles (my national newspaper does it A LOT). There’s an inevitable bleed from journalism into content writing.
This is particularly noticeable on platforms like Medium, where you can find journalists writing under pen-names and alias’. These are journalists from huge publications such as the New York Times, the Atlantic, and others, writing about all kinds of things. On Medium, there’s such a breadth of writing and lots of hybrid writing too - it’s a real melting pot of content writing, blogging, op-eds and journalism, which has its pros and cons.
As we continue to consume more and more content online, these overlaps aren’t going to go away. Journalism is a profession that is about much more than merely writing, and there is a lot that quality content writers can take away from observing the industry. This is something I am working to do myself, and a few tips I’ve collated so far include:
Write informative, genuine headlines - avoid clickbait where you can.
Know your audience and what they’re looking for - aim to build an authentic connection.
Check your facts and go directly to sources when possible - do the work!
Be honest and transparent about potential bias - we’re all human, bias doesn’t make us bad unless we don’t acknowledge how it affects our perspectives.
Look for the bigger picture around issues - what/who are you missing out?
As writers, no matter what form our outputs take, we have a responsibility to support excellence across the board and to show up in the world with our writing that is genuinely about adding value - if we’re sharing what words, we need to ensure they’re worth sharing and worth others spending time with them.
Writing is a community and an ecosystem - what matters more is how we contribute to that ecosystem as a whole.
