Journalism helps to explain the events that impact our lives and is developed in a number of forms and styles. Each style uses different techniques and involves writing for different purposes and audiences.
Whether you’re considering journalism as a side hustle (yes, you can become a freelance journalist) or a full-time job, it’s important to consider what type of journalism interests you.
Journalism can be classified according to its:
- Coverage type: This refers to what topics are covered, as well as the angle and depth of the content.
- Medium: This refers to where and how the information is disseminated.
We’ve listed the main types of journalism below, broken down along both lines.
01.5 types of journalism (by coverage)
There are five different types of journalistic coverage:
1. News
News journalism is straightforward. Facts are relayed without significant artistic flourishes, analysis, or interpretation.
A typical news story consists of a headline and enough text to completely explain the situation or event to the reader, but nothing beyond that.
News stories lack the depth of feature stories and the questioning approach of investigative stories. Rather, they recount events and relay facts and information in a bare-bones, accurate, and unbiased manner.
Examples of news beats you may be assigned to as a journalist include:
- Business (including finance and market news)
- Crime
- Entertainment
- Lifestyle (including cooking, gardening, travel, home, or DIY)
- National, regional, and local or community news
- Politics
- Society
- Sports
- Technology
- Weather
2. Investigative
Investigative journalism aims to uncover the truth about a particular subject, person, or event. While investigative journalism is based on the basic principles underlying all journalism—verification and accurate presentation of facts—investigative reporters must often work with uncooperative or recalcitrant sources who do not wish to divulge information.
Renowned investigative journalism can upend major institutions and significantly influence public opinion.
Examples of famous investigative journalism include:
- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s uncovering of the Watergate scandal
- Ronan Farrow’s investigation into allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein
- Murray Marder’s hounding of Sen. Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s
- Upton Sinclair exposing conditions in Chicago’s meatpacking plants
3. Reviews
Reviews are partly opinion and partly fact-based. A review needs to accomplish two things:
- Accurately describe or identify the subject being reviewed
- Provide an intelligent and informed opinion on the subject, based on research and experience
Review journalism is usually associated with dining, entertainment (movies, TV, stage, etc.), and books. However, in recent years, major news outlets like The New York Times (in their Wirecutter section) and Forbes (in their Advisor section) have made product review journalism a major part of their business efforts.
Coverage of products from financial to physical now makes up the bulk of review work.
4. Opinion columns
Columnists interpret events or issues or write about their own personal experiences or thoughts. They usually specialize in a particular subject area or news beat, such as politics, technology, lifestyle, or any of the others listed in the “News” section above.
Columns are usually published weekly and are heavily influenced by the personality of the author, allowing them to write about subjects in a personal style. That style could be humorous, sarcastic, angry, analytical, or something else—it depends on what their audience prefers.
If you’re interested in becoming a columnist, it’s important for you to develop your own voice that will be recognizable to your readership.
Examples of famous columnists include:
- Thomas Friedman
- David Brooks
- Maureen Dowd
- Paul Krugman
5. Feature writing
A feature, the lengthiest type of journalistic story, is meant to provide an in-depth look and offer a previously unseen perspective on an event, issue, or person.
To write a feature, a journalist must explore their chosen topic by conducting interviews with experts or the key people involved.
Feature writing commonly wins prestigious awards when it manages to achieve its goals. For a clear picture of what good feature journalism looks like, check out this list of Pulitzer Prize-winning feature article journalism dating all the way back to 1979.
02.4 types of journalism (by medium)
As mentioned, journalism can also be broken down by medium—in other words, according to how it’s disseminated. Different mediums require different sets of skills to work with:
- Print/online: This type of journalism involves writing articles for publication online (on a website), in a print newspaper or magazine, or both.
- Photojournalism: This is closely related to print and online journalism and involves telling a story through photographs or video (often for publication in the same spaces, e.g., on a website or in a newspaper).
- Broadcast: As the name suggests, this consists of news that’s broadcast via radio, television, or online video or audio. If you work in broadcast journalism, you may be involved with reporting, script writing, or the technical aspects of producing that type of media (such as video editing or camera work).
- Multimedia: This straddles the other categories listed above and entails using a mix of print, photojournalism, or broadcast media to tell stories and weave engaging narratives.
03.Pursuing work as a journalist
Certain types of journalism are side-hustle friendly, such as writing reviews for websites or filling in as a part-time news writer. If you’re just getting started as a freelance writer, you can check writing job boards like ours to find those types of work.
Other types, like investigative or feature journalism, usually require being a full-time journalist.
Education is also important. If you’re interested in pursuing any of these different forms of journalism, there are a number of journalism courses available. Journalism courses teach a wide variety of ethical and research skills that form the foundation of all journalism.
Writing courses can also help budding journalists improve their grasp of the written word. If you have a love of words and a keen interest in the world around you, then journalism could be the career for you.
