We experience many things firsthand. We&nbsp; know what happened because we were there.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Since it's not possible to see everything for&nbsp; ourselves we must rely on the reports of others.
At professional news, organizations the job&nbsp; of creating these reports is done through a&nbsp;&nbsp;
process of journalism. Journalism is&nbsp; the practice of gathering, assessing,&nbsp;&nbsp;
and presenting news and information for print,&nbsp; broadcast or the internet. The job of a journalist&nbsp;&nbsp;
is to conduct research, check facts, and present&nbsp; accurate reports that explain issues and events.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Journalism can cover any topic from sports&nbsp; to entertainment to health to politics.
Journalism produced by news organizations&nbsp; is especially important for democracy.&nbsp;&nbsp;
As citizens we rely on journalists&nbsp; to provide the information we need&nbsp;&nbsp;
to make the best possible decisions about our&nbsp; lives, our communities, and our governments.
There are a number of important&nbsp; roles that journalism plays.
Journalism helps inform people&nbsp; about the events and issues that&nbsp;&nbsp;
are important for society as a whole.&nbsp; It contributes to collective knowledge&nbsp;&nbsp;
and helps shape opinions about&nbsp; what is happening in the world.
Journalism can also present different perspectives&nbsp; on issues and provide a forum for public debate.
Journalists act as watchdogs by&nbsp; holding those with power to account.&nbsp;&nbsp;
They encourage honesty and transparency from&nbsp; government officials and other authority figures&nbsp;&nbsp;
by questioning their actions and&nbsp; decisions and by uncovering the truth.
Finally, journalism can give people who lack power&nbsp; in society a voice by sharing the stories of those&nbsp;&nbsp;
who face different challenges journalists&nbsp; can help create empathy among the public.
Journalism is essential for democracy&nbsp; because it shines a light into places&nbsp;&nbsp;
that may otherwise be dark and helps people&nbsp; to stay informed about issues that matter.